June 25th, 1995 New London
BUELL NEIDLINGER
Blue Chopsticks: A Portrait of Herbie Nichols
Buell Neidlinger Quintet
K2B2 Records
This album deserves to be the sleeper of the year, a delightfully light-hearted, but also deeply serious, tribute to Herbie Nichols, perhaps the most neglected jazz pianist of the modern era.
Cellist Neidlinger performs these trio numbers form the '50s with reeds, brass, violin and viola accompanying. The result is the best kind of tribute, one that's terribly rare: songs that evoke the artist honored wityout merely repeating the work.
For all his skill as a pianist, Nichols' songwriting was his greatest strength, and it combined the wit of Monk, the soul of Horace Silver and the drive of Bud Powell. These songs are so rarely covered by other musicians that the chance to hear fresh versions of "2300 Skidoo," "Portrait of Ucha," and "Cro-Magnon Nights." The CD also revisits "Lady Sings the Blues," which Nichols wrote with Billie Holiday.
Despite the import of the project, these musicians don't take themselves too seriously, and the result is an album both arty and a lot of fun. "Blue Chopsticks" is wel worth seeking out, and can be ordered from K2B2 Records.
