Tell The Birds I Said Hello – Herbie Nichols
With its flowing melody, Tell The Birds I Said Hello is one of Herbie Nichols' most tonal and lyrical songs. Our exclusive solo piano recording by Frank Kimbrough was the first song to be recorded for the Herbie Nichols Centennial Project, on the date of Herbie's centennial.
- Recording: Herbie Nichols - The First 6
- Recorded on: January 3, 2019
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1058)
- Concert Key: D
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Piano - Frank Kimbrough
Video
- Check out our teaser video showing excerpts for the first 6 songs we're releasing that were recorded and filmed for our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project - a solo piano recording project featuring 23 gifted pianists playing 24 previously unrecorded compositions by Herbie Nichols. Order of pianists and Herbie Nichols songs (excerpts) on the teaser video: Jeb Patton - The Afterbeat Frank Kimbrough - Blues No. 1 David Berkman - Games And Codes David Kikoski - She Insists Frank Kimbrough - Tell The Birds I Said Hello Micah Thomas - Van Allen Belt
Tell The Birds I Said Hello stands out among Herbie Nichols songs for the flow of its beautiful, lyrical melody—one of Herbie's most tonal, at least in the A section. As can be expected there is plenty of harmonic interest under this melody, with chromatic voice leading resulting in some unexpected ♭5 and ♯5 chord qualities. The A and C sections of the AABC form are 16 measures, with an eight-measure B section featuring a more angular melody. C is similar to A but with a slightly different end to the last melody phrase.
Our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project solo piano recording by Frank Kimbrough presents this song at a gentle medium swing tempo. With such a strong melody, it could be quite effective faster, slower or with even 8ths.
Our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project solo piano recording by Frank Kimbrough presents this song at a gentle medium swing tempo. With such a strong melody, it could be quite effective faster, slower or with even 8ths.
Don Sickler: "At our Herbie Nichols Piano Summit, I told the eleven attending pianists that my goal was to have each one of them pick one of the 24 songs that Frank was going to play for them, knowing that they would be able to make the first recording of their song at the Van Gelder Recording Studio, on the same piano Herbie played in 1955 and 1956 for his Blue Note albums. Since Frank had Herbie's manuscripts for some time, he'd had a chance to play through them. The one thing that he immediately said to me was, he already knew which one he wanted to record: Tell The Birds I Said Hello. As producer, I assured him 'You got it!'
"I'm sure you'll be interested hearing how he played it for the other 10 pianists at the Summit." CLIP
"When Frank Kimbrough recorded this piece, he launched our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project. The pressure was on: he recorded it for us on January 3, 2019, Herbie's 100th birthday, with Herbie's relatives in attendance at the Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, on Rudy Van Gelder's Steinway piano that Herbie had recorded on in Rudy's original Hackensack studio in 1955 and 1956."
The date attached to Herbie Nichols' manuscript for Tell The Birds I Said Hello is February 9, 1960—over two years after his last recording session. Listen to all of "The First 6" titles released January 3, 2024.
"I'm sure you'll be interested hearing how he played it for the other 10 pianists at the Summit." CLIP
"When Frank Kimbrough recorded this piece, he launched our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project. The pressure was on: he recorded it for us on January 3, 2019, Herbie's 100th birthday, with Herbie's relatives in attendance at the Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, on Rudy Van Gelder's Steinway piano that Herbie had recorded on in Rudy's original Hackensack studio in 1955 and 1956."
The date attached to Herbie Nichols' manuscript for Tell The Birds I Said Hello is February 9, 1960—over two years after his last recording session. Listen to all of "The First 6" titles released January 3, 2024.
- Recording: Allison / Cardenas / Nash - Tell The Birds I Said Hello
- Recorded on: April 8-9, 2023
- Label: Sonic Camera (SC 2401)
- Concert Key: D
- Style: Even 8ths (medium)
- Tenor Sax - Ted Nash
- Guitar - Steve Cardenas
- Bass - Ben Allison
Though the tempo is similar to Frank Kimbrough’s swinging version for our Herbie Nichols Centennial Project, this trio recording has a very different feel almost like a ballad, with even 8ths and 2-feel in the bass. The tenor sax and guitar trade off on the melody, coming together in unison at the end of the head. There is a brief rubato intro before the head, but this version is very simply arranged throughout, with a clear focus on Herbie Nichols’ beautiful melody.
Bassist Ben Allison was introduced to the music of Herbie Nichols by pianist Frank Kimbrough in 1991. Over the next decade, the Herbie Nichols Project (including Kimbrough, Allison, and saxophonist Ted Nash among others) recorded three albums of Nichols’ songs and set out to find as much of his music as they could.
As explained by Allison: “The rumor was that a trunk full of Herbie's original scores had been lost in a flood, gone forever. So, we contented ourselves with what we could uncover at the Library of Congress. In 2002 I received a phone call out of the blue from a cousin of Herbie Nichols. He said that he had a stack of original sheet music and mentioned several titles which were unfamiliar to us. My heart started racing—did this person have the storied "lost trunk” of music? He promised to call back the next day to arrange a time when we could meet. He didn't call back.
Fifteen years later, Ted Nash received a call from the same person. We finally connected with him and upon seeing the sheet music, recognized Herbie's handwriting immediately. The collection included some fantastic compositions that were new territory. The tunes were full of life, humor, and clever twists and turns—all the hallmarks that make Herbie's music so rewarding to play and listen to.
For our fourth album as a trio, Ted, Steve, and I put our spin on these beautiful tunes. We don't know how Herbie would have played them—which tempos, feels, and instrumentations he would have favored. We were left to bring them to life in our own way. We hope you enjoy listening to this album as much as we enjoyed making it."
See other Herbie Nichols titles on "Tell The Birds I Said Hello."
As explained by Allison: “The rumor was that a trunk full of Herbie's original scores had been lost in a flood, gone forever. So, we contented ourselves with what we could uncover at the Library of Congress. In 2002 I received a phone call out of the blue from a cousin of Herbie Nichols. He said that he had a stack of original sheet music and mentioned several titles which were unfamiliar to us. My heart started racing—did this person have the storied "lost trunk” of music? He promised to call back the next day to arrange a time when we could meet. He didn't call back.
Fifteen years later, Ted Nash received a call from the same person. We finally connected with him and upon seeing the sheet music, recognized Herbie's handwriting immediately. The collection included some fantastic compositions that were new territory. The tunes were full of life, humor, and clever twists and turns—all the hallmarks that make Herbie's music so rewarding to play and listen to.
For our fourth album as a trio, Ted, Steve, and I put our spin on these beautiful tunes. We don't know how Herbie would have played them—which tempos, feels, and instrumentations he would have favored. We were left to bring them to life in our own way. We hope you enjoy listening to this album as much as we enjoyed making it."
See other Herbie Nichols titles on "Tell The Birds I Said Hello."
Herbie Nichols
January 3, 1919 – April 12, 1963
Don Sickler "On January 3, 2019, we were at the Van Gelder Recording Studio celebrating Herbie's 100th birthday with his family and pianists Frank Kimbrough and Glenn Zaleski. Both Frank and Glenn each recorded a previously unrecorded Herbie Nichols composition, on the same piano Herbie played for his Blue Note sessions. These were the initial recordings that started my new project, the Herbie Nichols Centennial Project, which debuts January 3, 2024. Read more...