Archives: December 2024

• Herbie Nichols: The Third Six

  Continuing our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project, six more previously unheard Nichols compositions are now available on jazzleadsheets.com. As with the other songs in this project, solo piano performances were recorded at Van Gelder Studio during Herbie Nichols' centennial year. The 23 pianists featured in this project represent players at every decade of their careers, from teens up to 80s. Several of the pianists featured in "The Third 6" are toward the younger end of the spectrum, including Joey Alexander who was 16 years old at the time of his recording.

  We've made a teaser video to whet your appetite for this release: all of the pianists' interpretations are inspired improvisations on the basic leadsheets.

• Herbie Nichols: The Second Six

  We're excited to continue making new songs available from our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project: 24 previously unrecorded Nichols compositions, in solo piano performances from 23 different pianists recorded at Van Gelder Studio (on the piano Herbie played) during his centennial year. Six more of these songs are now released for the first time. Nichols wrote the first major article about Thelonious Monk (his 1946 article for Rhythm magazine). As detailed in this article, the two pianists played some of their music for each other; Monk liked Sailing, Stratosphere, and Strivin' so Nichols agreed to write solo piano arrangements of these for Monk. Only the arrangement for Stratosphere survives; it is now available as well as the lead sheets for all three of these.

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