Composition first recorded as a trio of alto saxophone, cello, and drums on Raw Materials and Residuals (1978). The Julius Hemphill Papers has a small-group score in Hemphill’s hand for alto saxophone, trumpet, baritone saxophone, cello, and guitar. Hemphill also arranged the composition for saxophone sextet (two soprano, alto, two tenor, and baritone), and it was recorded by the Julius Hemphill Sextet on Five Chord Stud (1994). It was published in the Julius Hemphill Sextet Collection by Subito Music.
Found on: Raw Materials and Residuals, Five Chord Stud.
From Marty Ehrlich: From trio to quartet to saxophone sextet, “Mirrors” is for me one of Julius’s iconic pieces, in the totality of its compositional parts, and in the way Julius’ gave it voice, with Abdul Wadud, on his horn. I first heard Hemphill perform this work in 1971 at Washington University in St. Louis, in a trio with Wadud on cello and Charley Payne on drums. We performed the work often with the Julius Hemphill Sextet.