Trial – Roy Hargrove

This beautiful, lyrical ballad has no definite key center, but the melody has a strong tonality. The A section is essentially in B minor, or D major, without a specific mode. The melody soars to a peak in the third measure, and then descends to repeat a two-measure phrase twice with slight variations. Another wide-ranging, soaring phrase in the ninth measure leads to another repetition of a two-measure figure, resulting in a total of 13 measures in the A section. The bridge of this AABC form suggests G major or A minor, with a four-measure phrase repeated twice. C is similar to A; the last four measures are repeated again with a slight variation.

The harmonic motion is often stepwise; the repeated phrase in the fifth through eighth measures alternates Gmaj7 and F♯m7. The last four measures of the A section augment this alternation to minor thirds: Dmaj7(♯11) and Fmaj7 (♯11). There are a couple of tritone substitute II-V7's: Em7 to E♭7 in the ninth measure to get to D, and Bm7-E7 to E♭ in the third and seventh measures of the bridge.

Both recordings of this song are only one chorus in length, with no solos; this song can easily be opened up for soloing. The solo form can have the C section the same as A, without the last four measures; these measures would then be a "tag" for the end of the out head. Alternatively, the "tag" could be kept in the solo form.

This quintet recording has Roy playing the melody on the two A sections. Ron Blake on tenor sax takes over the melody on the bridge, and adds a countermelody behind Roy on the C section. This countermelody has eighth-note figures in alternating thirds for the last eight measures.

Our audio clip starts on the repeat of A and goes into the B section. The lead sheets here are identical to the ones available under the "Family" album cover.

The audio clip starts at the repeat of A and continues into the start of B.

This version, again only one chorus long, has a dramatic sextet arrangement which builds all the way from start to finish. The first A section is a duet between soprano sax and bowed bass (the bass part is through-composed and often fills in around the melody). The second A section adds drums, playing a steady groove with mallets on the toms. Roy takes the melody on the bridge; the piano starts comping here, while the bass switches to a pizzicato 2-feel and the drums continue the same groove. The C section continues the trumpet melody, with alto and tenor adding a countermelody, mostly harmonized in thirds, related to the tenor countermelody of the first recording. The alternating thirds in the countermelody on the last eight measures are here played in eighth-note triplets. In measures 14 through 16 of the C section, the first three measures of the "tag," all three horns go up an octave.

These lead sheets are the same as the ones under the Marc Cary album cover.