Herbie Nichols • Herbie Nichols Trio

 

Biography
by Steve Huey
One of jazz's most tragically overlooked geniuses, Herbie Nichols was a highly original piano stylist and a composer of tremendous imagination and eclecticism. He wasn't known widely enough to exert much influence in either department, but his music eventually attracted a rabid cult following, though not quite the wide exposure it deserved.

Nichols was born January 3, 1919, in New York and began playing piano at age nine, later studying at C.C.N.Y. After serving in World War II, Nichols played with a number of different groups and was in on the ground floor of the bebop scene. However, to pay the bills he later focused on Dixieland ensembles; his own music -- a blend of Dixieland, swing, West Indian folk, Monk-like angularity, European classical harmonies via Satie and Bartók, and unorthodox structures -- was simply too unclassifiable and complex to make much sense to jazz audiences of the time. Mary Lou Williams was the first to record a Nichols composition -- "Stennell," retitled "Opus Z," in 1951; yet aside from the song he wrote for Billie Holiday, "Lady Sings the Blues," none of Nichols' work got enough attention to really catch on.

He signed with Blue Note and recorded three brilliant piano trio albums from 1955-1956, adding another one for Bethlehem in late 1957. Nichols languished in obscurity after those sessions, though; sadly, just when he was beginning to find a following among several of the new thing's adventurous, up-and-coming stars, he was stricken with leukemia and died on April 12, 1963. In the years that followed, Nichols became a favorite composer in avant-garde circles, with tributes to his sorely neglected legacy coming from artists like Misha Mengelberg and Roswell Rudd. He also inspired a repertory group, called the Herbie Nichols Project, and most of his recordings were reissued on CD.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herbie-nichols-mn0000679897/biography

///////

Biografía
por Steve Huey
Herbie Nichols, uno de los genios del jazz más tristemente olvidados, fue un pianista muy original y un compositor de enorme imaginación y eclecticismo. No era lo suficientemente conocido como para ejercer una gran influencia en ninguno de los dos aspectos, pero su música acabó atrayendo a un rabioso grupo de seguidores, aunque no con la amplia difusión que merecía.

Nichols nació el 3 de enero de 1919 en Nueva York y empezó a tocar el piano a los nueve años, estudiando después en el C.C.N.Y. Después de servir en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Nichols tocó con varios grupos diferentes y estuvo en la base de la escena bebop. Sin embargo, para pagar las facturas, se centró más tarde en grupos de Dixieland; su propia música -una mezcla de Dixieland, swing, folk antillano, angulosidad tipo Monk, armonías clásicas europeas a través de Satie y Bartók, y estructuras poco ortodoxas- era simplemente demasiado inclasificable y compleja para que tuviera mucho sentido para el público de jazz de la época. Mary Lou Williams fue la primera en grabar una composición de Nichols, "Stennell", retitulada "Opus Z", en 1951; sin embargo, aparte de la canción que escribió para Billie Holiday, "Lady Sings the Blues", ninguna de las obras de Nichols recibió la suficiente atención como para ponerse de moda.

Firmó con Blue Note y grabó tres brillantes álbumes de trío de piano entre 1955 y 1956, a los que añadió otro para Bethlehem a finales de 1957. Sin embargo, Nichols languideció en la oscuridad después de esas sesiones; lamentablemente, justo cuando empezaba a encontrar seguidores entre varias de las nuevas estrellas aventureras y prometedoras, se vio afectado por la leucemia y murió el 12 de abril de 1963. En los años siguientes, Nichols se convirtió en uno de los compositores favoritos de los círculos de vanguardia, y artistas como Misha Mengelberg y Roswell Rudd rindieron tributo a su legado, que había sido muy descuidado. También inspiró un grupo de repertorio, llamado Herbie Nichols Project, y la mayoría de sus grabaciones se reeditaron en CD.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herbie-nichols-mn0000679897/biography

Four Jazz Lives

 

This new and retitled edition of A. B. Spellman's long-out-of-print Four Lives in the Bebop Business brings a classic work on jazz back to life, and shines a light on four musicians who've finally gotten their due.

In 1966, at the height of the avant-garde and the year of the first edition, the subjects of Spellman's interviews for the book—Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Nichols, and Jackie McLean—were considered too subtle, complex, or difficult, certainly far from the comfortable melodies of more mainstream artists. Nearly forty years later, in the new edition, Spellman notes the capriciousness of the jazz industry and writes of darker cultural currents, "the most sinister of which is the gross indifference with which America receives those aspects of Afro-American culture that are not 'entertaining.'"

Now that the world has caught up to the talents of Taylor, Coleman, Nichols, and McLean, Four Jazz Lives not only celebrates their musical genius but reminds us again of the permanent place they occupy in the pantheon of jazz greats.

A. B. Spellman is a well-known author, poet, critic, and instructor. He has published numerous books and articles on the arts, including Art Tatum: A Critical Biography and The Beautiful Days.

Praise / Awards

• "Remains the best introduction to the worlds of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Nichols, and Jackie McLean."
  —Ben Ratliff

• "Four black jazzmen speak at considerable length for themself, with connective passages supplied with persistent relevancy by a poet, historian, and critic."
  —Nat Hentoff

• "An essential book in the jazz canon. . . . [T]he University of Michigan Press has given it a rebirth under the title Four Jazz Lives."
  —Nat Hentoff, JazzTimes

• "An engrossing, impressionistic history of contemporary jazz."
  —Nation

• "[Spellman] views these men with a perceptive and understanding eye."
  —New York Times