Nica's Tempo

Nica's Tempo is an album by Gigi Gryce recorded in 1955. The title track is a reference to Nica de Koenigswarter (born Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild) a.k.a. "The Bebop Baroness" or "The Jazz Baroness", a patron of jazz musicians such as Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker.

Nica's Tempo
Studio album by
Gigi Gryce
ReleasedMarch 1960 (1960-03)[1]
RecordedOctober 15 & 22, 1955
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
GenreJazz
LabelSavoy (originally issued on Signal Records)
Earlier covers
First edition by Harold Feinstein
Second edition, also by Feinstein
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

The album was originally issued as Gigi Gryce Quartet And Orchestra (Signal S 1201). The Signal Records masters were later acquired by Savoy Records, who reissued this album in 1958.[3]

While side two is ostensibly by the "Gigi Gryce Quartet", its duration is dominated by three previously unrecorded compositions of Thelonious Monk, on which he is featured as the quartet's pianist. Furthermore, the lineup is Gryce plus the same musicians that had recorded a 10" LP as the Thelonious Monk Trio a year earlier (Thelonious Monk Plays), making this arguably a Monk/Gryce quartet, playing under Gryce's name for contractual reasons. Author Robin D.G.Kelley, in the book Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, reports that the teaching, rehearsal and performance of these compositions were all directed by Monk.[4]. Kelley further describes:

[Bill] Grauer and [Orrin] Keepnews were not happy that Monk had just recorded and published three original songs--songs that they felt should have been released on the Riverside label. Legally, there was nothing they could do; Monk did not break his contract by recording as a sideman.[5]

It would be another year before Riverside Records recorded any original Monk compositions, for the album Brilliant Corners. These were, therefore, the only original compositions Monk recorded for release in 1955.

Track listing

Side 1 (by "Gigi Gryce Orchestra")
  1. "Speculation" (Horace Silver) – 4:03
  2. "In a Meditating Mood" (Gigi Gryce) – 4:22
  3. "Social Call" (Gryce, Jon Hendricks) – 2:43
  4. "Smoke Signal" (Gryce) – 3:42
  5. "(You'll Always Be) The One I Love" (Gryce) – 3:28
  6. "Kerry Dance" (traditional) – 3:00

Side 2 (by "Gigi Gryce Quartet")
  1. "Shuffle Boil" (Thelonious Monk) – 4:59
  2. "Brake's Sake" (Thelonious Monk) – 4:45
  3. "Gallop's Gallop" (Thelonious Monk) – 5:25
  4. "Nica's Tempo" (Gryce) – 6:06

Personnel

Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6: Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, October 22, 1955

Tracks 3, 5: Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, October 22, 1955

Tracks 7-10: Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, October 15, 1955[6]

References
  1. "Nica's Tempo - Gigi Gryce". AllMusic. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  2. Nastos, Michael G.. Nica's Tempo at AllMusic
  3. Tim Neely Goldmine Jazz Album Price Guide: 50 Years of Jazz on Vinyl, Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2011, p.218
  4. Kelley, Robin D.G., Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, New York, NY: FreePress, 2009, p. 193-4
  5. Kelley, Robin D.G., Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, New York, NY: FreePress, 2009, p. 194
  6. http://www.monkbook.com/sessionography/sessionography-1955-1957/
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