Gargoyles – Renee Rosnes & Walter Weiskopf

This song is well-titled, as it has an ominous sound due to its static melody which floats over an incessant pedal point. This pedal point is a repeating two-measure rhythmic figure in mostly dotted quarter notes, starting on the "and" of beat 1. It continues throughout the entire 14-measure A and C sections, while the melody lurks in long tones and pounces with a brief rhythmic figure in the sixth measure. The pedal point stays on D in the first six measures, followed by descending root motion from Em7; each chord is two measures long. The second A section has different chords in the last six measures (ascending instead of descending), but the melody is the same.

There is no key center; the melody and harmony are quite unpredictable. A measure of 6/4 with a convoluted eighth-note line prefaces the bridge; this section goes to a 4-feel with a melody that alternates longer notes and more complex eighth-note lines. It's rhythmically tricky: eight measures of 4/4, one measure of 6/4, 6 more in 4/4 and finally 4 measures of 3/4 leading to the C section. The bridge changes largely alternate C7 and Bm7, with much embellishment. The C section is the same as the first A.

Solos have the same A and C sections as the head, but the bridge is simplified to an 18-measure section all in 4/4. There is a coda which tags the last four measures of the head three more times, with different changes each time finally descending to E♭m7.

This recording opens with eight measures of drums, setting up the rhythm of the pedal point. Tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake plays the A section melody quite expressively, sometimes anticipating or laying back on the pickup to the 13th measure. He adds a slight crescendo through the first six measures. The pedal point continues all through the A and C sections of the solos. Eight measures of D pedal point are played after the last solo to set up the out head.

The melody is quite high in the range of the tenor sax, so besides our B♭ lead sheet for tenor we also have a B♭ trumpet lead sheet an octave lower, in a comfortable range for trumpet

This quintet version has tenor sax and guitar in unison throughout the melody, making it more rhythmically precise than in the two quartet recordings. It begins with an open drum solo (not included in the clip above), eventually setting up time; the piano and bass come in with eight measures of the pedal point, harmonized in fifths (D-A-E), before the head. The solo form is a bit different: AAB instead of AABC, with a 4-feel throughout the last chorus of each solo. Again eight measures of pedal point (like the intro) set up the out head.

This version begins in the same way as the Free Trade recording—open drum solo, eventually laying down the rhythm for eight measures of pedal point before the head. Chris Potter interprets the A section melody a bit more expressively than Seamus Blake on the first recording. The solo form is again AAB instead of AABC, but this time with no pedal point; the rhythm section plays "broken time" or 4-feel. After the solos, there are 16 measures of the pedal point going directly into the C section and coda.