L'Afrique – Herbie Nichols

L’Afrique really shows the impressionistic side of Herbie Nichols. This song is full of colorful harmonies and intricate melodic shapes that twist and coil through the changes, all packed into a relatively compact 32-measure AABC form. Each of the two A sections and C end differently, with an unexpected “walk up” at the end of C. The key center is not obvious at the beginning, but becomes clear toward the end of the A section; the bridge changes have a tonal underlying structure but with plenty of alterations and some tritone substitution.

Tom Oren’s solo piano recording for the Herbie Nichols Centennial Project is slow and introspective—a detailed look at all the melodic and harmonic intrigue. He plays the melody rubato, going to a slow swing tempo in the last two measures of C to set up his solo chorus. At the end, he tags the seventh measure of C three times and finishes with the opening melody phrase one last time.