Heel 'N Toe – Herbie Nichols

Based on a repeated-note riff, Heel ’N Toe is a great example of the swinging side of Herbie Nichols. It’s relatively simple, 32-measure AABC in a swing-to-bop style, but as always with Herbie Nichols there are subtle details that make this song unique. The A section lays on A♭7 (the IV chord) with a side-slip in each riff, only getting to the tonic E♭ in the last two measures. The bridge develops the last A section phrase through a circle of fourths starting down a half step on D7.

Mike LeDonne’s solo piano recording features a quirky post-bop arrangement, with widespread two-handed voicings for the repeated notes of the riff and left-hand fills between. He kicks it off with a dramatic rubato intro, based on the last phrase of the A section and the bridge.

Some of the melody rhythms in Mike’s version are slightly different from our lead sheet. As these Herbie Nichols Centennial Project songs have not been recorded before, we wanted to present them as written whenever possible. For several of these including Heel ’N Toe we also have recordings by pianist Jake Sasfai [clip] based on the lead sheet melodies. Jake plays a similar arrangement to Mike LeDonne’s but with the rhythms as written.