Herbie Nichols - 1955
If ever there was a Jazz composer ahead of their time it was Herbie Nichols. It is also safe to say that most people will find his music an acquired taste but well worth the effort. Mixed in with his undeniable lyricism is a taste for displaced rhythms and interesting harmonies reminiscent of Bela Bartok and Eric Satie. Mostly ignored during his lifetime his music was eventually championed by players like Roswell Rudd and Steve Lacy.
One feature that immediately stands out about ‘Step Tempest’ is displaced chords beginning at bar 5. Unlike a typical be-bop displacement before the beat (see Celia by Bud Powell), Nichols place the “kick chords” after the beat.
After a three bar introduction (unusual) Nichols establishes an implied tonal centre of Ab by playing a pedal point Ab for 4 bars. The listener now accepts this as ‘I’ so the Db, Bb and Eb sound like IV – II- V. At the end of the 8 bars before the repeat he throws a curve ball of E7 (#V).
After the repeat we finally get a resolution to the true tonic (Db). 16 bars without using the tonic! We talk a bit about delayed resolutions when we discuss “Advanced Forms” (Link).
