You Gotta Love Hank Mobley

I think you made a good point last night, Larry, when you said that if John Coltrane had never existed, Hank Mobley would take his place among the pantheon. No more 'middleweight' champion BS. Yeah, they really called him that while calling Coltrane the heavyweight champion. That must hurt when your nickname digs at you.

Hank Mobley is one of the greats

Yes, I love Hank Mobley too, as anyone who has been following this blog will know. Last night Larry and I were drinking a beer and listening to Another Workout (Blue Note, 1961) that has a stellar band, as all of Mobley's Blue Note albums did.

Hank Mobley - tenor saxophone

Wynton Kelly - piano

Paul Chambers - bass

Philly Joe Jones - drums

You'd be hard pressed to find a better trio to back you up, so no surprise that Mobley shines on this date. We were particularly taken by the ballad "Hello, Young Lovers" which I encourage you to listen to.

Larry also talked about the new Andrew Bird album being out and that he's loving it, but as great as Andrew Bird is, he's not jazz, so we won't discuss him in detail here. Sorry Andrew.

Woody 'n' Me

Woody's deep into it

I love Woody Shaw.

Every time someone starts going on about how Miles Davis is the one and only trumpet god (remember when Tim went on about that? The whole Dark Prince thing?) I sputter and say Louis Armstrong! Art Farmer! Lee Morgan! Charles Tolliver! And of course, Woody Shaw!

My love for Woody came from his recordings with other leaders including Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, the early 1970s incarnation of the Jazz Messengers, and especially Mal Waldron's amazing "The Seagulls of Kristiansund" (Soul Note, 1987), which I will have to write about in detail some time soon.

I love that Live at the Village Vanguard album and it marks another concert that I wish I would have attended. I wish I could have sat there and had a dry vodka martini (does the Vanguard make a decent martini?) and let myself get pulled away by the 26 minute title track.

one of my favourites

Woody's playing is fresh and modern and to my ears, his songwriting places him near the top of jazz composers.

As I write this, I'm listening to "Night Music", which was the first album by Woody that I ever owned. The track is Orange Crescent. It's a great place to start. The fact that the great Bobby Hutcherson guests on the album certainly helps. Steve Turre, who might be the best trombonist you've never heard of, also adds some melodic fire.

Woody's recordings under his own name came in the 1970s and 1980s when jazz was starting (or continuing) its decline in popularity. I think that's the only reason he isn't a legend. Well, he's a legend to me. He was consistently strong and he put out some incredible albums including "The Moontrane" (Muse, 1974), "Little Red's Fantasy" (Muse, 1976) and any of the live albums he recorded. His Columbia recordings are also musts. "Rosewood" (1978), "Stepping Stones" (1979), "Woody III" (1979) "For Sure!" (1980) and "Untitled" (1981).

This is creative, energetic, beautiful music and I urge you to sample some of the riches that he left for us.

This is quite a list of incredible music, and all the more amazing is that he put it all out there before the age of 44, when he died tragically, but let's not talk about his sad end, okay? Let's focus on the music.

What's Spinning Today

Hank Mobley's 'Carolyn' from his brilliant album No Room For Squares (Blue Note, 1963).  If I had to pick one Mobley album (no easy task!) it would be this one.

I love you, Hank Mobley

He has a stellar band.  It was the same cats that played on one anothers sessions and helped make Blue Note the finest label in jazz.

Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd alternate songs on trumpet and two of the finest pianists to come out of the 1960s, Andrew Hill and Herbie Hancock alterate songs.  Add the master, Philly Joe Jones on drums and you have the makings of a classic album.  You could pick any track on this album, but 'Carolyn' is playing at the moment.  Lee Morgan wrote it and the band plays it perfectly.  I challenge you to listen to this track and not become, like me, a life-long devotee of Mobley and Morgan.  Enjoy my friends.  I am tired and this song is helping lift my spirits.

What's Spinning Today

Hank Mobley's 'Curtain Call'. If you have been reading along, my friends, than you know that I have a fondness for Hank Mobley. His tone is so rich and those Blue Note albums sound so good. Hard to believe the recording quality that they were getting back in 1960 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Blue Note head Alfred Lion had such high standards that he didn't release this album and it wasn't available until the mid-1980s! Perhaps my ears aren't as well-tuned as Mr. Lion's, but this album is a welcome addition to my Mobley collection.  Kenny Dorham is on trumpet and the two had played together a great deal and their familiarity and interplay helps make this album.

Perhaps if you are going to build your own Mobley collection you should defer to Mr. Lion (who knows what he is talking about since I have mentioned more than once that Blue Note is the greatest) and start with a different Mobley.  I would recommend 'Soul Station' or 'No Room For Squares' (one of my favourite titles ever, and one of my favourite album covers. I love Blue Note!).

It is a mellow evening here on the 20th floor. Babies are sleeping and The Jimmy Giuffre 3's delightful 'The Easy Way' is lulling me to a state of complete contentment.

Hank Mobley - my dark secret comes out!

I show my wife the cover to Hank Mobley's 'Thinking of Home', another great one from Blue Note. (They put out a book of their covers and I am kicking myself for not buying it.)

She says to the babies -I think your dad has a man-crush on Hank Mobley.

Not denying the man-crush since he is one of my favourite sax players, I add -And it's got Woody Shaw on trumpet!

-All you need is your guy on bass...

(She means Paul Chambers, which you would know if you've been reading along.)  -This has someone named Mickey Bass on bass. I've never heard of him.

We feed the babies their dinner and put them to bed. Another lovely day of marital bliss, babies and jazz