Mirrors (We All Need) – Robert Watson

A warm-toned ballad that makes a complete statement in only eight measures. The lyrical melody, entirely diatonic in the key of F major, has a soulful sound that lends itself to expressive embellishment. The chord progression begins in B♭ major and takes a roundabout route to the tonic, only touching down in F major in the second half of the last measure after a half-step resolution up from E7.

Bobby Watson prefers not to show key signatures in his lead sheets; accordingly, we show no key though the tonality of this song is relatively clear.

About the arrangement: A condensed score and second horn parts are available that reflect this quintet recording. Bobby never plays the melody, instead adding a countermelody behind trumpeter Terrell Stafford on the repeat of the in head and the out head (which is not repeated). He embellishes the fourth measure of this countermelody a bit on the in head; we have gone with the out head for this measure in the part.

Solos on this recording go to a double-time swing feel. Our solo changes are written out twice as long in the faster tempo. A couple of stepwise "walk ups" are added to the solo changes, fleshing out longer II-V7s.

A Don Sickler arrangement, this time for saxophone quartet—but a unique lineup consisting of four altos. As with the sextet arrangement (see next cover), there are four melody choruses; each alto gets to play the melody. The instrumentation builds as it goes: first alto 1 on the melody with a countermelody from alto 2, then the second chorus goes to 3-part counterpoint adding the melody in alto 3. Alto 4 enters with the melody for another counterpoint chorus, and the final chorus goes to block harmonies with alto 2 on the lead. In the first two choruses, the counterpoint lines come together rhythmically on the second and sixth measures. Alto 2 plays a brief fill in the eighth measure of the last chorus, and then alto 4 cues a final chord with a solo pickup.

In our exclusive video recording, each alto player adds their own expressive interpretation to the melody. It can also be played more precisely as written, which we illustrate in an additional recording by Kira Daglio Fine and Elijah Shiffer each overdubbed on two parts. This "straight" version is used as our audio clip.

A sextet arrangement of Mirrors by jazzleadsheets.com's Don Sickler, with MIDI audio available. We have a full set of transposed horn parts for a variety of possible lineups; trumpet, alto sax, and tenor sax are the horns shown in the Full Score. This dramatic arrangement goes four times through the head before the solos, building instrumentation each time. It begins with tenor sax on the melody accompanied only by bass. The second chorus adds alto sax for the melody, with tenor and bass countermelodies. The third chorus has three-part counterpoint in the horns, with trumpet entering on the melody; the drums come in here too, and the bass starts a steady 2-feel. In the fourth chorus the piano enters and the horns switch to block-chord harmonies, with trumpet still on the melody. This fourth chorus is also the out head. The entire arrangement can be heard in the audio clip.

The end of the fourth melody chorus extends with a half note into the beginning of the first solo chorus; the bass is the first soloist. This extension of the melody is shown in the first measure of the solo section in the parts; in the score there is a separate measure in the first ending showing the full half-note chord in the horns and piano.