Nica's Dream

"Nica's Dream" is a jazz standard^[1] composed by Horace Silver in 1954. It is one of many songs written in tribute to jazz patroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter.^[2] The song was first recorded by the Jazz Messengers in 1956, and has since been recorded by many other artists. It features jazz melodic minor harmony with prominent minor-major 7th chords. Its first studio recording by Silver was on the Horace-Scope album.

Thomas Owens describes the composition – "The trumpet melody, one of the great themes in jazz literature, is a 64-measure song in aaba form. The accompaniment for the a sections is in a Latin style based on [...] one of Silver's favorite patterns. In the bridge the accompaniment alternates between backbeat chordal punctuations and four-beat swing. During the solos the rhythm section maintains the same accompanimental textures, which both clarify the form and maintain the theme's original moods and textures."^[3]

A vocal version was first recorded by Feather in 1983, and released the following year on the album Zanzibar.^[4]

References

^ "NPR's Jazz Profiles: Horace Silver". Retrieved August 5, 2012.
^ "Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, 74". New York Times. December 2, 1988. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
^ Owens, Thomas (1996). Bebop – The Music and Its Players. Oxford University Press. pp. 222. ISBN 978-0-19-510651-0.
^ "Cover versions of Nica's Dream by Feather | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.

Horace Silver

Years indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.

Blue
Note
albums

New Faces New Sounds (Introducing the Horace Silver Trio) (1952)/Horace Silver Trio and Art Blakey-Sabu (1952–53)
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1954–55)
6 Pieces of Silver (1956–58)
The Stylings of Silver (1957)
Further Explorations (1958)
Live at Newport '58 (1958)
Finger Poppin' with the Horace Silver Quintet (1959)
Blowin' the Blues Away (1959)
Horace-Scope (1960)
Doin' the Thing (1961)
The Tokyo Blues (1962)
Silver's Serenade (1963)
Song for My Father (1963–64)
The Cape Verdean Blues (1965)
The Jody Grind (1966)
Serenade to a Soul Sister (1968)
You Gotta Take a Little Love (1969)
That Healin' Feelin', The United States of Mind, Phase 1 (1970)
Total Response, The United States of Mind,
Phase 2 (1970–71)
All, The United States of Mind, Phase 3 (1972)
The United States of Mind (compilation of the 3 'Phase' albums, 1970–72)
In Pursuit of the 27th Man (1972)
Silver 'n Brass (1975)
Silver 'n Wood (1975–76)
Silver 'n Voices (1976)
Silver 'n Percussion (1977)
Silver 'n Strings Play the Music of the Spheres (1978–79)