HERBIE NICHOLS TRIO: HERBIE NICHOLS TRIO (MONO)

Performer: Herbie Nichols, piano; Al Kibbon and Teddy Kotick, bass; Max Roach, drums
Composer: Herbie Nichols Trio
Number of discs: 1
Barcode: 0602445396153
Label: Blue Note (Tone Poet)
Format: LP
Genre: Jazz
Year: 2024

180-gram LP

Remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes

Pressed at RTI

Includes the famous “Lady Sings the Blues” written for Billie Holiday

Joe Harley, co-founder and co-producer of the highly successful “Tone Poet” audiophile vinyl reissue series, serves as curator for this new collection of fully analog remasters sourced from the original tapes, pressed on 180-gram audiophile LPs, and presented in a luxurious gatefold tip-on jacket. The remastering was handled by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, while the LP pressing was completed by the renowned American company Record Technology Incorporated (RTI). Titles for this series were carefully selected by Harley and include lesser-known Blue Note classics, major modern successes, and some albums originally released on other labels associated with the Blue Note catalog. Every detail of these reissues—from the cover artwork to the sonic quality achieved through Kevin Gray’s remastering and the flawless vinyl pressing by RTI—has been meticulously overseen to meet the highest possible standards. Harley, nicknamed the Tone Poet, aims to allow 21st-century listeners to experience the music exactly as the musicians heard it from the original analog tapes and Rudy Van Gelder’s studio monitors fifty or sixty years ago. In his own words: “Every aspect of these Blue Note reissues has been handled down to the smallest detail. You will not find a version of comparable quality.”

This mono release in the Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, remastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram audiophile vinyl at RTI, and presented in a luxurious tip-on gatefold cover.

Herbie Nichols was one of the most original pianists and composers in jazz history. Blue Note founder Alfred Lion considered him an important and utterly unique interpreter, comparable to Thelonious Monk, whose talent Lion had recognized and launched several years earlier before signing Nichols in 1955. For a series of inexplicable reasons, Nichols never achieved the recognition he deserved, and the wider public has only begun discovering his inimitable style and his striking, intricately constructed works in the past twenty years.

After debuting with the two volumes of The Prophet on 10-inch LPs, Nichols returned to Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, first in August 1955 with drummer Max Roach and bassist Al McKibbon, and then in April 1956 with Roach and bassist Teddy Kotick to record the 12-inch LP Herbie Nichols Trio (BLP 1519). The album features a series of unmistakable Nichols originals, including “The Gig,” “House Party Starting,” “Wildflower,” and arguably his most famous composition, “Lady Sings the Blues,” written for the legendary Billie Holiday.

Herbie Nichols Trio

Side A

The Gig
House Party Starting
Chit-Chatting
The Lady Sings The Blues
Terpsichore

Side B

Spinning Song
Query
Wildflower
Hangover Triangle
Mine