Composition that appears in Music Manuscript Notebook 4 (MMN4), with the notation “S&T,” “B&C,” and drums, most likely indicating that the piece is for saxophone (soprano or tenor), bass or cello, and drums. The archive includes photocopies of parts in holograph for soprano saxophone, trumpet, and cello. There is no drum part, but the score includes annotations such as “tom rolls” and “cym rolls.” No known recording.
From Marty Ehrlich: “Scatterbrain” has a range of tempos from quick to slow, and a number of different improvisational groupings within the quartet. It includes a long series of pitches, notated without stems but within a bracket. Hemphill often used this type of notation in the 1970s, and I would date this work to that period. Baikida Carroll included this piece in his list of works that were part of the repertoire of the Hemphill Quartet.