Hank Mobley: Workout (1961 – Blue Note Records)

Miles Davis dissed him, Leonard Feather called him the middleweight champion, and most people thought that John Coltrane outshone him. Because of these and a few other real or imagined slings and arrows, a kind of victim support group vibe has gathered around Hank Mobley in recent years. He’s in danger of going down in history as a tragic figure.
But hey! Here’s another perspective to consider. Mobley recorded an astonishing 25 albums as a leader or co-leader for Blue Note (not even Grant Green comes close), was featured on around another 35 Blue Notes as a sideman, and made his mark on Columbia and a few other labels too. Where’s the victim?
Mobley had some good times outside the studio as well. He was married twice, by all accounts on both occasions to stunningly beautiful women, and lived until he was 56—not a massive span, true, but for a black hard bop saxophonist born in 1930 who had intermittent heroin problems, longer than many. Mobley did alright, as history should record.
Fact is, Mobley wasn’t one of the all-time greats. His style was an amalgam of others before and around him, and his technique was no better than average. His tone was thin more often than it was fat, and he squeaked on fast passages or when negotiating tricky intervals. He was, though, an exhilaratingly ragged and abandoned tenor saxophonist and a solid blues-based composer who made one all-time great album, Soul Station, and half a dozen very good ones.
Workout, from 1961, is one of the very good ones, and it’s now being released with a lethal Rudy Van Gelder remaster. The headlong charges which are “Workout” (pure bop) and “Smokin'” (pure hard bop) showcase Mobley at his best: passionate, wild and 100% in the moment. “Workout” is further distinguished by Philly Joe Jones’ door-rattling presence and Grant Green’s straight out of Minton’s, more Christian than Christian, jetstream of a solo. “Uh Huh” (brisk soul-jazz, in which Mobley acknowledges and recalibrates his R&B roots) and “Greasin’ Easy” (moderato hard bop blues) are almost as good. Mobley wrote all four of these tracks. (The two standards, “The Best Things In Life Are Free” and “Three Coins In A Fountain,” are by comparison merely pleasant).
Chris May (All About Jazz)     

Track List:
1. Workout
2. Uh Huh
3. Smokin’
4. The Best Things In Life Are Free
5. Greasin’ Easy
6. Three Coins In The Fountain

Personnel:
Hank Mobley: (tenor saxophone)
Grant Green: (guitar)
Wynton Kelly: (piano)
Paul Chambers: (bass)
Philly Joe Jones: (drums)

Original Release Date: March 26, 1961  –  Label: Blue Note Records

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Kenny Drew: Undercurrent (1960 – Blue Note)

The only Blue Note recording under pianist Kenny Drew’s leadership and the last to be released under his name for a thirteen-year period, during which time the pianist would relocate to Europe, Undercurrent is a strong outing by the gifted pianist, composer and session leader. In the latter capacity, his job is greatly facilitated by a frontline of saxophonist Hank Mobley  and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, whose instant compatibility had been established just weeks earlier on Mobley’s sterling Roll Call  (Blue Note, 1960). Moreover, the rhythm team of bassist Sam Jones  and drummer Louis Hayes had become one of the more efficient power plants in jazz because of its nightly duties with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet during the same year as its best-selling At the Lighthouse (Riverside, 1960), which included the hit single “Sack O’ Woe.”
Undercurrent has nothing as viscerally infectious as the Adderley tune but is an admirable program of Drew originals, ranging from the modal, streaming title piece to the self-descriptive “Funk- Cosity,” a sort of fleshed-out variation on Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’.” “Lion’s Den” is a welcome change of mood and pace, moving to a major key and an alternating pedal tone/straight-ahead harmonic-rhythmic pattern. Next is the beboppish “The Pot’s On,” an elliptical melody that yields to the reassuringly warm inventiveness at which Mobley has few if any peers. “Groovin’ the Blues,” an ordinary but appealing line, would be an engaging finger-popper were it not such a close twin of “Funk-Cosity,” and the closer, “Ballade,” is a once-through set piece, an appealing romantic melody stated with formal grace and simplicity.
If none of the tunes is strikingly original or memorable, the same might be said of Drew’s otherwise superlative post-Powell piano work. Certainly among the highlights is the opening title tune, set up by an electrifying 38-second introduction: drums and bass walk off eight bars at a flaming tempo, Drew adds a running baroque figure for the next eight, tenor and trumpet harmonize in thirds for the next sixteen then play in unison over a pedal tone for eight more, finally re-harmonizing in thirds for the last eight before Mobley’s tenor is suddenly ejected into the jet stream for the first solo. The latter player is simply wondrous on this and each of his solo turns, as consistently rewarding as he is risk-taking, and clearly in command during the same year that produced his masterpiece, Soul Station (Blue Note, 1960). Hubbard, the comparative newcomer, isn’t as fluent as Mobley but complements his frontline companion with a more aggressive, even puckish approach, alternating between repeated percussive motifs and a soaring, passionate lyricism.
Given the size of the ensemble, the quality of the musicians and the blowing room for each of the soloists, it’s perhaps small wonder that Undercurrent falls just short of a personal triumph for the leader (though arguably essential to any Mobley fan). But as a democratic and exemplary Blue Note session with strong hands vigorously played by five proven winners, this RVG remaster deserves a place alongside more heralded recordings during a truly golden age in the music.
Samuel Chell  (All About Jazz)

Track List:
1. Undercurrent
2. Funk-Cosity
3. Lion’s Den
4. Pot’s On
5. Groovin’ the Blues
6. Ballade

Personnel:
Kenny Drew (piano)
Freddie Hubbard (trumpet)
Hank Mobley (tenor sax)
Sam Jones (bass)
Louis Hayes (drums)

Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 11, 1960
Original Release Date: December 11, 1960  –  Label: Blue Note Records

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Lee Morgan: Charisma (1966 – Blue Note)

 

Lee Morgan  recorded a couple dozen records just like this for Blue Note back in the sixties – swinging, soulful sessions that featured catchy, clever real-jazz tunes and interesting players at the top of their game. Perhaps that’s why this September 2 9, 1966, session wasn’t released on record until 1969. In time and interest, Charisma falls between the delightful Delightfulee and The Rajah, a more by-the-numbers Morgan session that Blue Note didn’t release until 1986. Now that it ‘s back in circulation again, Charisma has much to recommend it; not the least of which is the presence of alto great Jackie McLean  (a frequent Morgan ally on Tom Cat , Cornbread, Infinity  and The Sixth Sense, to name a few). Also on board is pianist Cedar Walton, who contributes with a soulfulness that was so much a part of his playing back then, the heroic Hank Mobley on tenor, Paul Chambers on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. Charisma aptly de scribes the group interplay here too. The three horns and the pianist had a particularly good day: playfully coming up with one interesting line after another and chasing each other with frisky, frolicsome solos. Morgan stacks the deck with a great line- up of originals too: the funky “Hey Chico,” the bop grind of “Somethin’ Cute” and “The Murphy Man” and the blues of “The Double Up.” Pianist Cedar Walton provides another one of his memorable ballads in “Rainy Night” and the sextet has a lot of fun with Duke Pearson’s rollicking “Sweet Honey Bee” too. Even though most of Lee Morgan’s records are worth hearing time and again, Charisma embodies much of what makes the trumpeter’s music valuable and worthwhile three decades later. This is one to get and enjoy for years to come. Highly recommended.

Douglas Payne (All About Jazz)

Track List:
1. Hey Chico 
2. Somethin’ Cute 
3. Rainy Night 
4. Sweet Honey Bee 
5. The Murphy Man 
6. The Double Up 

Personnel
Lee Morgan (trumpet)
Jackie McLean (alto sax)
Hank Mobley (tenor sax)
Cedar Walton (piano)
Paul Chambers (bass)
Billy Higgins  (drums)

Original Release Date: September 29, 1966  –  Label: Blue Note Records

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Hank Mobley – Soul Station (1960 – Blue Note)

Often overlooked, perhaps because he wasn’t a great innovator in jazz but merely a stellar performer, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was at the peak of his powers on Soul Station. Recorded with a superstar quartet including Art Blakey on drums, Paul Chambers on bass, and Wynton Kelly on piano, it was the first album since Mobley’s 1955 debut to feature him as a leader without any other accompanying horns. The clean, uncomplicated sound that resulted from that grouping helps make it the best among his albums and a peak moment during a particularly strong period in his career. Mobley has no problem running the show here, and he does it without being flashy or burying the strong work of his sidemen. The solidness of his technique means that he can handle material that is occasionally rhythmically intricate, while still maintaining the kind of easy roundness and warmth displayed by the best players of the swing era. Two carefully chosen standards, “Remember” and “If I Should Lose You,” help to reinforce that impression by casting an eye back to the classic jazz era. They bookend four Mobley originals that, in contrast, reflect the best of small-group composition with their lightness and tight dynamics. Overall, this is a stellar set from one of the more underrated musicians of the bop era. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide

 Track list:

 1. Remember (Irving Berlin)

 2. This I Dig of You

 3. Dig Dis

 4. Split Feelin’s

 5. Soul Station

 6. If I Should Lose You (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin)

All compositions by Hank Mobley, except where noted.

Personnel

Hank Mobley:  (tenor saxophone)

Art Blakey:  (drums)

Wynton Kelly:  (piano)

Paul Chambers:  (bass)

Original Release Date: February 7, 1960   –  Label: Blue Note Records

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Curtis Fuller – The Opener ( 1957 – Blue Note Records)

 

With Curtis Fuller’s leader album “The Opener “, Blue Note beat Prestige to the shops, rush-releasing in August 1957, by which time Fuller’s sideman credentials with the label also included albums with pianists Sonny Clark and Bud Powell. A month later, Fuller sealed his arrival on saxophonist John Coltrane’s Blue Train (Blue Note, 1957). Now,51 years after its original release, The Opener tells us why. Combining a fluent technique shaped by J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, his own deep melodicism, a knowledge of trombone stylists stretching back to Tommy Dorsey and beyond, and an embrace of Coltrane’s recent harmonic initiatives, Fuller fashioned an enduring jewel. He was assisted by a superb band comprised of rising stars saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor.

Track List:
01 A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening

02 Hugore

03 Oscalypso 

04 Here’s to My Lady 

05 Lizzy’s Bounce 

06 Soon

Personnel:

Curtis Fuller (Trombone)

Hank Mobley (Sax Tenor)

Art Taylor (Drums)

Bobby Timmons (Piano)

Paul Chambers (Bass)

Original Release Date: June 16, 1957 (Label: Blue Note Records)
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