The Unpiblished Works - Herbie Nichols

t7'tl

I lnJ Lo/

t -

WORKS Lh\TPUBLISFIE,D

Thble of Contents TheBeckoningPorometersof HerbieNichols(port One) Another Friend

4 8

The Bebop Woltz

t0

BusyBeover

14 t8 22 24 26 30 34 3ó 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 54 5ó 58 62 66 ó8 70 72 74 76 78 8B 90

Delights Chonge of Seoson Dreom Time* Enropture FreudionFrolics* ForestFloor* TheHoppenings I Never Loved or Cored for Love In Honorof Gorner Ino* Jomoico* Korno Kongi. MomentsMusicol One Twilight. Old 52nd St.Rog* Possings Thoughts* SomeWonderingBushmen* Stronge City. Supplicotions ProncingPrettyWomon* Te-dum,Te-dee* Twelve Bors Vocotion Blues* VolseMocobre* }e BeckoningPorometersof HerbieNichols(port Two) Discogrophy RoswellRudd:ShortBioof o Jozzlmproviser -Recordedby the Roswell RuddTrioon ClMp Recoros

The Beckoning Parameters of Herbie Nichols (Part One) by Roswell Rudd high schools and In the last 50 years at least, it has been now to the point where and middle possibleto reach an overview of u'hat remains colleges(yea grammar schools schools)can point proudlyto their variousenmusicof Handy,Oliver, v e s t i g e so f r a g a , d a s t g a h ,t a x i m ' m a k o m , semblesdealingwith the Monk, griot, tango, discantussuper librum, Armstrong,Ellington,Miller,Strayhom, of the classicalsystemsof the u'orld's musics-

flamenco,

it is possiblein figuredbass,free fantasia,r'oluntan'.etc.,etc' Tristanoand so forth. Now not just in the All of theseare forms in rvhich It\IPROVISATIONAmericato find source music muchin (especiallyamong the performers themselves) departmentsof anthropologybutvery of "serious is fundamental to the act of acoustic realiza- the conservatoriesand citadels tion. These classicalsvstems\\'ere ln iact, music"as well. 'playAnd thus the works of Herbert Horatio pioneeredby all-timegeniusimprovlser

significantcomposer, ers, and by now it should be ob'i'louslo an-\'one Nichols(1919-196$,a creativepianist,poet,üsionary and,without a prolific and original North America's contribution :o :hls r"'orld doubt, one of the most are of performanceart-rnus:; :r'r'olvlng tunesmithsof mid 20th century America

with ears to hear (as rvell as eves io see' that

tradition

public exposure. improvisation is the domain of s'ha'. :s gener- thankfullyseeingthe light of HerbieNicholswas a quiet genius.Youhad ears reached beena half centuryat leastof creative consir¡c- to be the kind of listenerwhose an inexorewardingarchiüsm: the presen'a::on out. If you were, then his musichad ally referred to as the blues and lazz Yes l: s

tive, and

rable way of creepinginto you. Once this Theremaybefolks youwerehooked. scription; scores;oral histories,plus t-llmsa:''d happened, ¡hen and now who have been impactedby video tape. All give indispensableproof o:

of sound recordingsand their subseque:''::ral '-

"i'':s dispatched lifeblood music...whichhas penetrateC:h'e Herbie'splayingand immediately Americaneducationalinstitution for some :::''e

to paradisebyit, but on me,he grewgradually

-

= = =

Asyouknow the ironv and only after a while becamea permanent since.[SeeDiscography] of much fine art is that it outlivesus all. residentof my mind'sear. In 1960,I was just beginningto open up

In the fall of 1985,JoelNichols,Herbie's

beyondswingmusic-Herbie'stunes,especially father, who was then 93 years old and still the recordedones,were really extensiveand climbing up 8 flights (l) becauseof a broken dimcult. when he saw how blown out I was by elevator,lent me the catalogof Herbie'stitles. the big ones (The Gig, Terpsichore,Beyond Everythingwas meticulouslydescribedand

=

= = = = = = = =

Rrcall, HousePaU, SpinningSong, The Third dated.Fromit I concludedthat he had written

= =

World,etc.)he startedgiüng me Old52ndSteet over 200 piecesin all kinds of idioms from

=

Rag, TWelveBars, Dream Time, Change of military marches,waltzes, rags, Caribbean Season and Tee-Dum, Tee-Dee.I4lith his danceformsto elaborateshow pieces,cabaret encouragementI found these more manage- material, piano etudes,a lot of songs with able.Herbiemay have been gentleand unas- lyrics and of coursethe ürtuoso jazz tunes of zuming,but he drew the line in the sensethat I his recordings.I put down dates for all the hadto be ableto playthe melodybeforeI could manuscriptsthat I had but for some reasonI The lead sheetis a phenomenonthat ha-<

parametersnevertheless,uncompromisingin a its roots way back in the earliestextemalized way. Thus the title of this introduction, "The forms of people'sabstractthinking. The leac BeckoningParametersof Herbie Nichols." sheetcomesrightaftersigning.Forme,the ;:.:: ThecompositionshegavemewereHerbies prerequisiteof a lead sheet is brevitt' way of indoctrinatingme to his approachto same time, it is somehowinclusive compositionwith an eyetowardsimproüsation signer's or composer's intentions and t€:s:i when we got together.Hewould would giveme ality. This is a tough call: to have u:.it:s¡ a bunchof freshlywritten leadsheetsand po- outlines without excluding the auihcr s ,:,,-siemsin his own hand,and we would start from crasies and nuances. There are sc.'-c * rt? there. The idea was that I would keep these, ful examples of lead sheets ::^.::e practicethem,andleamthem,sothat if we ever scores of composer,/impror':s€- :i got to performhis musicpubliclyI would be pre-

lSth century Europesuch a-q!.9:rir.-:

= = =

go on to improüse. That's what these outlines missedthe one for BryondRecall. havebeenandareto me:gentleparametersbut

= = = = =

'--.

pared. We did perform some of these pieces beforehis demisebut a lot morehasdeveloped F. J. Haydn. Herbie Nichols :.'s€¡-'-:r: {

= = = = = = =

Asyou kno\t',the ironv r¡: Jn:\' after a while becamea permanent since.[SeeDiscography] lrs¡¡f:.: of my mind'sear. of muchfine art is that it outlivesus all. :

1960,I was just beginningto open up

In the fall of 1985,JoelNichols,Herbie's

!r1cr.d srvingmusic.Herbie'stunes,especially father,who was then 93 yearsold and still -

:corded ones,were really extensiveand climbingup S flights (I) becauseof a broken

¡f,.-ult Whenhe saw how blown out I was by elevator,lent me the catalogof Herbie'stitles :e brg ones (The Gig, Terpsichore,Bqond Everythingwas meticulouslydescribedand "ar'---f/.HousePafty,SpinningSong, The Third dated.Fromit I concludedthat he had written *-'e,1 etc.)he startedgüng me Old52ndSteet over 200 piecesin all kinds of idioms from ,a:gi TlvelveBars, Dream Time, Change of military marches,waltzes, rags, Caribbean S::son and Tee-Dum, Tee-Dee.t/¡ith his danceformsto elaborateshow pieces,cabaret $ouragement I found these more manage- material, piano etudes,a lot of songs with **le Herbiemay have been gentle and unas- lyrics and of coursethe ürtuoso iazz tunes of s;rning,but he drew the line in the sensethat I his recordings.I put down datesfor all the :¿d to be ableto playthe melodybeforeI could manuscriptsthat I had but for some reason I 30 on to improvise.That'swhat theseoutlines missedthe one for BgtondRecall. The lead sheetis a phenomenonthat i'as :l¿vebeenandareto me:gentleparametersbut uncompromisingin a its rootsway back in the earliestextema;:z:: Jarametersnevertheless, n'ay. Thus the title of this introduction, "The forms of people'sabstractthinking.The .::: BeckoningParametersof Herbie Nichols." sheetcomesrightaftersigning.Forme ih. ';.: in l9Slusing the title Mary's Waltz - r,:'*.:

'.*-: 3 :c,:. :S ::.: .: :'.easurefinal A SeCtiOn. : : . : : : - r i r : - \ - - : : : - r L a l h a n d S p a nW h i C h

listen to her recording becauseshe rr a-/Ab D t

Dbmajt

Filt

GmajT

B t Et

At

Dt

play the As you might imagine,I could only about melodyvery slowly in 1961"'andforget lvhole improvising.TodayI can almostplay the I did then melodyup to tempo,but I feel now as

fast walk; series of accents or "kicks;" B is a brief of C is a l¡tin feel with triplets; D, a sequence horvling bop chords;E, the samehom fanfare different wa)4s;F, 7 measuresof fast kicks'

A is a that this is an incredibledrum escapade'

{"1" t/;-A,L

frrul,t^ fJ'"'

g

:'l

v g

*1-'*¿

*

á,'")',

a

F'¡ t

. * r t- ?-

9t

v

a?

e

ff-1'l

eñ)+ ,* z4+'+

s

uli

Gt-

-' 11

F-r ¡5)

c7(b9

ebzr bD

¡rh/D

Ez-

Long, howling ballad. Somehou.. ths gor pr¡: on bluesfeeling into a balladformat,andhe extends the side.One of the last things he gare:re arj sc üe long calls over into the bridge for further I never heard him do it. I got in:o p;.Í.üg :: 3L-\..e development. I stiil play it frequentlyafter and more in the early g0s as work an mtr{*rga*od

'outdoors) across

trombone ballad. Those long ca- s rti _:a._:::¡, \en'soothing. off phrases are masterfui :n:e=e-¡:::¡_s ::

-91n, cc 4,e)

{r*¡f,:

ale*t* tt¿lrsls -?Í

oC."hurEU)

\-r-'7-'¿-

c-t€'I

v*&ir1'1

* o *

*_-

'lt'{G}

+.

o¿

the Ashokan Reservoir.

a"rl

March, 1958

SrnaruceCrry HerbieNichols

Ct