Nirvanna – Jack Wilson

With its laid-back mood, Nirvanna is another example of the gentler side of Jack Wilson. This song is based on a single melodic phrase, repeated and transposed to fit over the changes. The beauty of this melody comes from its focus on the major 7th, highlighting the rich major chord qualities.

This song's form is 52 measures long, AABC with 12-measure A and C and 16-measure B. The A section chords are almost entirely major 7ths, moving around in half steps. Though the last chord of this section is D♭maj7, the key is really F major, which is the first chord; the section ends with C7 to resolve back to F. There is no melody on the bridge; the rhythm section plays a modal C7 vamp. On the recording, the horns improvise together on the bridge.

Second and third parts are available for the 3-horn arrangement. The horns are voiced mostly in thirds throughout the A and C sections. On this recording, there is one A section of piano solo (with bass and drums) as an intro.

The sixteenth-note triplet embellishments in the melody are notated with "turn" symbols in parentheses in the 2nd and 3rd parts. The arrangement works just as well with or without these embellishments in the harmony parts.