Drummers are the worst. That’s a natural response to the flawless new album by the drummer-less trio of bassist Ben Allison, the one-time Kansas City guitarist Steve Cardenas and saxophonist Ted Nash. Without a drummer muddying the waters with percussive clatter, the chamber jazz of Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols shimmers with undiluted clarity. Allison explains the set consists of “eight tunes that Herbie never recorded.” Nichols died in 1963, but the trio’s interpretations of his compositions are entirely up to date. The addition of a drummer would have broken the delicate spell cast on Tell the Birds I Said Hello.