Hanah Jon Taylor

Reggie Nicholson: No Preservatives Added

by Howard Mandel
February 17, 2023

From cosmic gong signaling it's “Time to Reset" to bluesy combo asking that we “Say It Ain't So," Reggie Nicholson's Percussion Concept on No Preservatives Added makes music of real life and sonic imagination. Beats, breathes, cycles, syncopations and synchronizations--dances, stances, gestures, textures—rhythmic physicality and melodic extrapolation--expressive, engaging improvisations of a masterful team, that proceed by thought, feeling, and especially ear to unexpected places. These are ingredients of composer-percussionist Nicholson's seventh intriguing, original, self-produced album, which without artificiality seems timely ...