Blip – Herbie Nichols

Bright and bouncy, Blip combines blues vocabulary and more unexpected harmonic motion for an advanced swing-to-bop sound characteristic of Herbie Nichols. The AABC form is 40 measures long: 10-measure A sections, 8-measure B, and C the same as A but extended to 12 measures. The melody is relatively simple with charming rhythmic themes that get developed through the changes throughout. The first two chords of the A section are G6 and E♭7; this descending major third motion reappears in the bridge first starting in F and then in A. E♭7 is also the last chord of C, a great example of the unanswered half-cadences Nichols often used (though with the tonic G in the bass).

Isaiah Thompson’s solo piano recording for the Herbie Nichols Centennial Project adds a neat arrangement, with bass-line counterpoint and a particularly Nichols-esque run in the fourth measure. He interprets the first chord as G7 rather than G6, with a slightly different rhythm from the written melody. For an ending, he tags the 9th and 10th measures of C three times, ending on the unresolved E♭7/G.

A second audio clip of the head is available by pianist Jake Sasfai [clip], presenting the melody and changes as written. Like Isaiah Thompson, he adds left-hand counterpoint filling in the longer notes of the A sections.