All 24 songs in our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project are now available. We're finally able to bring you the music (lead sheets and artist performance audio) for all of these previously unrecorded Herbie Nichols compositions that became our project. We've introduced his new songs to you in four groupings (six compositions in each group) and also accompanied the release of each six with a teaser video which shows the great piano artists we invited to make the first recording of these songs on the 7-foot Steinway "B" piano at the Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Herbie recorded his own Blue Note sessions (1955, 1956) on this same piano when it was in Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack studio.

In all, we had 23 different pianists involved, each playing one of Herbie's unrecorded songs, except for pianist Frank Kimbrough, who got to play two of the new songs. For more history about our project, check out our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project page and our Herbie Nichols Piano Summit page.

The "Fourth Six" tracks, released to complete the project by Herbie's birthday (January 3rd), feature established master pianists, several of whom are jazzleadsheets.com composers including living legend Bertha Hope.

As with our previous releases in this project, a teaser video is available with excerpts of these six songs from our recording sessions. Here are more:

Here are all 24 titles, in four groups:
"The First 6"
"The Second Six"
"The Third Six"
"The Fourth 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.

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.

Today - November 8th, 2024 - is the 88th birthday of one of our living legend composers, Bertha Hope. To celebrate we are adding five more of her unique compositions to jazzleadsheets.com, covering a wide range of moods and harmonic structures:
Bai Tai Blues
Dotti-Dotti
Hokkaido Spring
This Could Be Blues
You Know Who!
Besides lead sheets for these songs, we have solo piano arrangements of these songs by Bertha herself, which were recorded by Glenn Zaleski. We've also added descriptive notes for two more of these arrangements: Book's Bok and Gone To See T. You Know Who! is also available in an exclusive "Further Explorations" recording with Minus You tracks for all instruments.

September 21 is the anniversary of a very important recording session in 1956. "Whims Of Chambers" was Paul Chambers' debut as a leader on the Blue Note label; it features an all-star lineup with Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Horace Silver, and Philly Joe Jones. Three of Paul's songs were recorded: Dear Ann, Tale Of The Fingers, and Whims Of Chambers. Besides the lead sheets, we have bass transcriptions which cover everything Paul played on all three songs - melody, solos, and walking. Also check out Don Sickler's unique arrangement of Whims Of Chambers for four basses, originally recorded with then 13-year-old bassist Daryl Johns overdubbing on all parts. More arrangements from this multiple-bass project are coming soon.

Don Sickler: The school year is upon us again, a perfect time to celebrate the anniversary of the first recording of then 17- year-old pianist and composer, Geoffrey Keezer. For me, this album still stands as a great album by an already mature pianist/composer. I've been blessed to know Geoffrey since his arrival in NYC when he was introduced to me by his mentor James Williams. When Geoffrey was coming up, established leaders such as Art Blakey, Art Farmer and Ray Brown were still on the scene; it was great to see Geoffrey get to take full advantage of playing and recording in their groups, also contributing original compositions and arrangements to their repertoires.

Our new "Waiting In The Wings" album editions are Waiting In The Wings and Tropopause. Check them out!

To kick off the Kenny Dorham Centennial Year, on his birthday (August 30, 2024) jazzleadsheets.com filled our NEW ARRIVALS listing on our Home page with 10 new editions of Kenny's compositions. D.C. Special, Dorham's Epitaph/Extension, Fair Weather (instrumental), Fair Weather (vocal), Lotus Flower, Mexico City, No End, There's No End, None Shall Wander and Tonica are now available. We'll be adding more new editions throughout his centennial year.

Also, happy birthday to Kenny's middle daughter Evette (he had 5 daughters). Evette shares her father's birthday. As part of Kenny's centennial celebration, Evette will also be starting an online series of classes on Kenny's music for Jazz At Lincoln Center's "Swing U." More information will be available at this link starting on September 12. https://jazz.org/education/public-programs/swing-u/

Also check out this video promoting K.D.'s centennial celebration this weekend at Dizzy's Club, featuring short comments by Evette, Bruce Harris, Joe Magnarelli, Tim Hagens, Jeb Patton and Ulysses Owens. https://www.facebook.com/jazzatlincolncenter/videos/celebrate-the-100th-birthday-of-jazz-legend-kenny-dorham-at-dizzys-club-in-a-spe/1271878824191500/

Don Sickler: In a little over a week, on August 30 (Kenny Dorham's 100th birthday), we start celebrating the Kenny Dorham Centennial year. Jazzleadsheets.com is determined to continue enriching our catalog of Kenny Dorham's music throughout the year. K.D. (as Dorham was affectionately known) is a vitally important trumpet player and composer: all jazz musicians should experience playing his very special music. On his birthday, we'll be adding some more K.D. gems to our catalog.

For this week, we want to take you back to the mid 1940s bebop era, after Kenny arrived in NYC. In Kenny's own words, published in Downbeat's 1970 Music Directory "Fragments of an Autobiography": After having been a protege in the first Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra (1945)--Dizzy's protege--I was groomed to succeed Fats Navarro, who had succeeded Diz in Billy Eckstine's orchestra. It was really a hot chair. I was following the two most outstanding trumpeters in jazz history . . .

During his early time in NYC, he was also getting playing and recording experience with big bands like Mercer Ellington.

On August 23, 1946, Kenny did a morning and afternoon recording session as the trumpet player in two Sonny Stitt All Stars sessions for Savoy Records. The morning session included what I believe are Kenny's first two recorded compositions, Bombay and Fool's Fancy, both now on jazzleadsheets.com. In 1947, he recorded The Thin Man (already on jazzleadsheets.com), and we're now making Baby Sis available from Kenny's May 15, 1949, recording session in Paris, France with the Max Roach Quintet. The first recording I know of Kenny Dorham with Max was the Christmas Eve radio broadcast, Royal Roost, NYC, December 25, 1948, when Kenny started working as the trumpet player in the Charlie Parker Quintet. Kenny's work with Charlie Parker finally brought him to the attention of the jazz world.

As Kenny Dorham's publisher, my main goal remains the same: to make correct editions of Kenny's music available to musicians and fans worldwide. I will work in earnest to bring out many more editions of his music during his Centennial year. Educationally, K.D.'s music is extremely important, as his writing requires and inspires engagement and cooperation among all playing it. I'm going to be working on expanding The K.D. Challenge editions, which give insight into the intricacy and importance of his incredible rhythm section writing that makes each member of the rhythm section part of the compositional process. I feel all jazz rhythm sections need to experience playing this music.

Here are links to some NYC events celebrating Kenny Dorham at Jazz at Lincoln Center
AUGUST 29, 2024 7:00PM VARIS LEICHTMAN STUDIO
LISTENING PARTY: KENNY DORHAM CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
https://ticketing.jazz.org/17458/

August 30, 31 and September 1: performances https://ticketing.jazz.org/17109/

For the recording anniversary of Hank Mobley's 1965 album "Dippin'" we added The Vamp and The Dip. For Hank's birthday (July 7th), we're releasing Ballin' from the same album including a transcription of his solo. All of Hank Mobley's compositions from "Dippin'" are now available and they're all fun to play. You can continue to celebrate Hank by checking out more of his songs on jazzleadsheets.com, including all the originals from these other albums: "Peckin' Time," "Soul Station," "Workout," "Another Workout," "No Room For Squares," "Third Season," "Far Away Lands," "Hi Voltage" and "Reach Out" - even more coming soon!