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Hank Mobley

As one of the founding members of the original Jazz Messengers, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was part of a brilliant innovation. Bebop's second generation of players had pulled the music into a tailspin of virtuosity. But there was a new inspirational sound taking hold, with roots in gospel and blues. By combining the best of bebop with the soulful new thing springing up, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins fashioned a sound with a percussive, street feel inspired by the hot steam grates and pavement they walked, the propulsive drive of the lives they were leading.

Mobley was born in Eastman, Georgia, but was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Newark. Early in his career, he worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. He took part on one of the landmark hard bop sessions, alongside Blakey, Silver and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The results of these sessions were released as "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers." They contrasted with the classical pretentions of cool jazz, with Mobley's rich lyricism being bluesier, alongside the funky approach of Horace Silver. When The Jazz Messengers split in 1956, Mobley continued on with pianist Horace Silver for a short time, although he did work again with Blakey several years later.

During the 1960s, he worked chiefly as a leader, recording 25 albums for Blue Note Records, including "Soul Station" and "Roll Call" between 1955 and 1970. He performed with many of the most important hard bop players and formed a particularly productive partnership with trumpeter Lee Morgan.

Mobley also spent a brief time in 1961 with Miles Davis, during the trumpeter's search for a replacement for John Coltrane. He is heard on the album "Someday My Prince Will Come" (alongside Coltrane, who returned for the recording of some tracks), and some live recordings (In Person: Live at the Blackhawk and At Carnegie Hall). Though criticized by some for not having the improvisational fire of Coltrane, Mobley was still a major voice on tenor saxophone, known for his melodic playing.

Mobley was forced to retire in the mid-1970s due to lung problems. He worked briefly with Duke Jordan before his death of pneumonia in 1986.

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Radio & Podcasts

Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley - Companion Mixtape

Read "Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley - Companion Mixtape" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


This mixtape is a fun-filled companion to the two parts of our show “Hanksgiving -A Tribute to Hank Mobley," giving even more insight in the legacy of Hank Mobley as a saxophonist and composer through some of his gems and some of the best renditions of his tunes. [Listen to Part 1 and Part 2] Happy listening! Playlist Hank Mobley “The Dip" Dippin' (Blue Note) 0:00 Ingrid Jensen “Avila and Tequila" Here on Earth (Enja) 7:54 ...

4
Radio & Podcasts

Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley - Part 2

Read "Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley - Part 2" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


This year our seasonal Hanksgiving episodes celebrates a musician that is a cult figure in the world of saxophonists and fans of the Blue Note catalogue, saxophonist and composer Hank Mobley. The show features a mix of Hank Mobley's tuens and renditions of his work by peers that were attracted by his brand of jazz firmly grounded in the blues and R&B roots that he had mastered in the years that preceded his first engagement, with Art Blakey and his ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley, Part 1

Read "Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley, Part 1" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


For our seasonal Hanksgiving show, this year we pay tribute to Hank Mobley, both as a saxophonist and a composer, by playing music from his albums, which are a cornerstone of the Blue Note sound and catalogue, and renditions of his music by musicians that came after him. There's so much to love in Mobley's repertoire. Happy listening and happy Hanksgiving, so it may very well become your new favorite holiday, the jazz equivalent of Festivus for the ...

11
Reassessing

Dial "S" for Sonny

Read "Dial "S" for Sonny" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Pianist Sonny Clark was culturally marginalized in much the same way as his contemporary Elmo Hope—both heroin-addicted jazz musicians in the 1950s: at the time, and romantically, a cliche. Both pianists have been sorely lumped into the “Bud Powell school of bop piano" which superficially may seem accurate until one considers the evolutionary continuum of jazz piano that places both Clark and Hope conceptually and stylistically beyond Powell. Clark was born in Georgia and raised outside of jny: ...

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Album Review

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin'

Read "Just Coolin'" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Great moments play all over Just Coolin', the new archival Blue Note Art Blakey release from 1959, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio with Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt. For a bit of history, let's just point out that Hank Mobley was returning to the tenor chair he held from 1951-56, but which had just recently (for back then) been occupied by Shorter, and before him Benny Golson. Not the slightest expectation here. And should there have been ...

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Album Review

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin'

Read "Just Coolin'" reviewed by Chris May


It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man or woman in possession of a good quantity of Art Blakey albums, must be in want of a lot more. Previously unreleased albums are particularly enticing. So do not be fooled by the Reid Miles-inspired cover of Just Coolin': the disc is previously unissued. It presents Blakey in his pomp fronting a dream-team Jazz Messengers lineup. AAJers do not need to be reminded that Blakey was at the ...

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Album Review

Hank Mobley: Soul Station

Read "Soul Station" reviewed by Greg Simmons


Music Matters continues to release exceptionally high quality, all analog reissues of classic Blue Note Records' albums from the golden mid-century age of small-combo jazz. They've recently upped their game with the introduction of a higher-quality raw material formulation they call SRX Vinyl. Hank Mobley was Blue Note Records' most prolific artist, with over thirty albums released under his own name, countless sessions as a sideman, and—according to his own telling in a rare interview shortly before he ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Hank Mobley

Jazz Musician of the Day: Hank Mobley

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Hank Mobley's birthday today!

As one of the founding members of the original Jazz Messengers, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was part of a brilliant innovation. Bebop's second generation of players had pulled the music into a tailspin of virtuosity. But there was a new inspirational sound taking hold, with roots in gospel and blues. By combining the best of bebop with the soulful new thing springing up, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley ...

Video / DVD

Video: Hank Mobley in Denmark, 1968

Video: Hank Mobley in Denmark, 1968

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Late last night, I heard from Bill Pauluh, who informed me that a video of Hank Mobley just went up on YouTube. The clip, from a Danish TV show called JazzBeat, was taped live on March 8 at the famed Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is big news, since so little video exists of the tenor saxophonist in action. The nearly nine-minute video features Mobely with Dexter Gordon's rhythm section at the time—Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen ...

1

Recording

Hank Mobley in Holland, 1968

Hank Mobley in Holland, 1968

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley is as beloved as Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. And for good reason. Mobley recorded for Blue Note throughout the 1950s and '60s, and for Cobblestone in 1972, and he appears on many albums as a leader and sideman. Though not a jazz game-changer in the same regard as Sonny and Coltrane, Mobley was driven and improvised with a liquid, assertive and exciting feel. So whenever I come across new Mobley, I like to let readers ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Hank Mobley

Jazz Musician of the Day: Hank Mobley

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Hank Mobley's birthday today!

As one of the founding members of the original Jazz Messengers, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was part of a brilliant innovation. Bebop's second generation of players had pulled the music into a tailspin of virtuosity. But there was a new inspirational sound taking hold, with roots in gospel and blues. By combining the best of bebop with the soulful new thing springing up, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley ...

1

Video / DVD

YouTubers Dig Hank Mobley

YouTubers Dig Hank Mobley

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had a fluid laid-back style that was both earthy and cosmopolitan. He recorded extensively for Blue Note as both a leader and sideman. He also played with the Jazz Messengers in the beginning when they formed under Horace Silver in the early 1950s and toured with Miles Davis in 1961. Despite two periods in the late 1950s and early 1960s when he was incarcerated briefly for narcotics possession, Mobley was able to record a wealth of ...

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Performance / Tour

Introducing 'Live From Van Gelder Studio,' A Groundbreaking Virtual Music Series Staged From Legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studio: The Room Where Jazz Happened

Introducing 'Live From Van Gelder Studio,' A Groundbreaking Virtual Music Series  Staged From Legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studio: The Room Where Jazz Happened

Source: DL Media

Van Gelder Studio, the legendary recording studio home to hundreds of jazz icons from John Coltrane to Herbie Hancock, has announced the launch of “Live from Van Gelder Studio," a new virtual music series that will stream live from VanGelder.live. The series will debut on Saturday, November 14th at 9PM EST and will feature an all-star quartet who will pay tribute to jazz great Hank Mobley, whose most beloved recordings turn 60 this year. Performers include bassist Ron Carter, tenor ...

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Recording

Hank Mobley: Soul Station

Hank Mobley: Soul Station

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

When I write, I often wish I had pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Blakey as my backing trio. I'd set them up in my office, and their swinging feel would motivate me to finish twice the work I set out to accomplish. While this isn't possible and wouldn't be even if they were still with us, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was lucky to have them behind him on February 7, 1960, when he recorded Soul Station—arguably ...

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Video / DVD

Hank Mobley: Blue Note, 1963-70

Hank Mobley: Blue Note, 1963-70

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Between 1963 and 1970, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded 12 albums' worth of hard bop. Seven were released by Blue Note during this period, while the rest wound up sidelined in the vaults. When discovered in the CD era by producer Michael Cuscuna, the lost Mobley tracks were assembled and released as five additional albums. Now, Mosaic Records (with Michael producing) has released The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions, 1963-70, an eight-CD box with a lush booklet and poignant ...

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Video / DVD

Hank Mobley and Max Roach

Hank Mobley and Max Roach

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

It's hard to believe, but drummer Max Roach and tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded just three albums together. In all three cases, Roach was the session leader. On two of the dates, Mobley was teamed with trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Frankly, I was surprised when I discovered their scant output while doing some fast research yesterday. Roach and Mobley are so perfect together as players, I just assumed there were more recordings. Roach throws down crisp polyrhythms, often at a fast ...

Video / DVD

Hank Mobley in Vocalese

Hank Mobley in Vocalese

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

How lyrical are Hank Mobley's tenor saxophone solos? Lyrical enough that singers seem to like putting words to them or just scatting along. Yesterday, I was on YouTube and found a bunch of Mobley warblers, many of whom chose songs from his 1960 album, Soul Station: Here's Alexandra Baird, who set words to Mobley's This I Dig of You... Here's Emanuele Maia, scatting along to Remember... Here's Camille Bertault adding French lyrics to If I Should Lose You... Here's Hannah ...

"Hank Mobley is the most lyrical saxophonist I’ve ever heard. He sang into his horn." —Benny Golson”
Ben Bishop
guitar, electric
Dave Wilson
saxophone
Ada Rovatti
saxophone
Rich Willey
trumpet
Matt Snyder
clarinet
Cold Spring Jazz Quartet
band / ensemble / orchestra
Tony Song
guitar
Warren Keller
saxophone
Ally Fiola
saxophone
Pureum Jin
saxophone, alto
The Rookies
arranger
Yuto Mitomi
saxophone, tenor
Dave Coules
saxophone
Noam Shapira
saxophone
Hard Bop Messengers
band / ensemble / orchestra
Gur Liraz
guitar
Zock Organ Trio
band / ensemble / orchestra
Egor Tokarev
saxophone, tenor
Clara Green
vocals

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Soul Station

Blue Note Records
2020

buy

The Complete Hank...

Mosaic Records
2020

buy

Just Coolin'

Blue Note Records
2020

buy

Dial "S" for Sonny

Blue Note Records
2020

buy

To One So Sweet Stay...

Nederlands Jazz Archief
2017

buy

Hank Mobley

Music Matters
2016

buy

Videos

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