A1 	Thad's Blues 	
A2 	Doug's Minor B'ok 	
B1 	B. For B. B. 	
B2 	Blues Number Two 	
B3 	Space Flight

Bass – Doug Watkins
Drums – Art Taylor (tracks: A1, A2), Kenny Clarke (tracks: B1 to B3)
Piano – Barry Harris (tracks: B1 to B3), Hank Jones (tracks: A1, A2)
Tenor Saxophone – Hank Mobley
Trumpet – Donald Byrd (tracks: B1 to B3), Lee Morgan (tracks: A1, A2) 

Impressive lineups, both in the front line and the rhythm section, fuel the two 1956 sessions on this Savoy reissue. The players are committed, the writing is good, and the performances reward repeated listening. The result is a worthwhile precursor to the industry-standard hard bop Mobley would later record for Blue Note.Lee Morgan, then 18, joins Mobley on two tracks that have pianist Hank Jones, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Taylor in the rhythm section. Even if Morgan at this time was audibly still growing as a trumpet player, his poise, execution, and resourceful imagination were already the tools of a master. Donald Byrd, on form and playing with crispness and authority, moves into the trumpet chair for the three remaining tracks. This time it's Barry Harris on piano, Kenny Clarke on drums, and Watkins (again) on bass. The influence on Mobley of swing era tenors, from Lester Young to Illinois Jacquet, can be clearly heard on these tracks. Mobley's respect for and understanding of the pre-bebop style serve him well in his contribution to the development of the predominant jazz style that followed bebop. In addition to three Mobley originals, there is a blues by Thad Jones and another from Watkins. The standout track is Mobley's "Space Flight," a bright, up-tempo bop number that has memorable solos from Mobley, Byrd, Harris, and Clarke. The recording on this CD is very good but, as is common on Savoy reissues, the running time isn't long -- 32 minutes in the case of this jazz message. ---Jim Todd, AllMusic Review

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CD1

01 - Ow
02 - There's A Small Hotel
03 - Ballad Medley
04 - All The Things You Are
05 - Jumpin' With Symphony Sid

CD2

01 - Announcements
02 - Lullaby Of Birdland
03 - Embraceable You
04 - Keen And Peachy
05 - Pennies From Heaven
06 - Blues Is Green
07 - 'S Wonderful

Hank Mobley - Sax (Tenor)
Walter Davis, Jr. - Piano
Bennie Green – Trombone
Charlie Persip – Drums
Jimmy Schenck - Bass

Recorded on one hard-swinging late-September evening at Newark’s Piccadilly Club, the two-disc Hank Mobley set showcases the talented tenor saxophonist evolving into a major force, alongside the transitional and complicated piano stylings of Walter Davis Jr., the pungent trombone of elder statesman Bennie Green, Charli Persip’s indefatigable drumming and the under-heard, under-acclaimed bass of Jimmy Schenck. While Mobley dominates, veteran Green is often more than a co-equal, sparkling on tracks such as “Ow!,” the rowdy Dizzy Gillespie starter, and a long “Pennies From Heaven.” “Ow!” jumps once Mobley double-times, curling lines over each other to accelerate the tune.

Recorded over three November nights at the Rising Sun, a Montreal jazz club, the single Dexter Gordon disc captures the commanding tenorman in full ballad prowess, setting his languorous inventions against the modernistic, rhapsodic clustering of pianist George Cables. Backed by bassist Rufus Reid and the little-known drummer Eddie Gladden, the Gordon set is debonair, continental and routinely gorgeous. The interplay between Gordon and Cables is a regular highlight here; both musicians are masters of cadenza, rulers of rubato, arbiters of arpeggio.

Both these offerings in Uptown’s Flashback Series are memorable. Both capture singularly captivating performances; even the crowd chatter swings, particularly in the earthier, more uptempo Mobley package. The Mobley quintet plays music that bridges swing and bebop. Grounded in then-contemporary jazz tunes like “Ow!,” George Shearing’s “Lullaby of Birdland” and Green’s frenetic, gospel-tinged “Blues Is Green,” Newark 1953 also nods to tradition with “Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid” (a signature song for King Pleasure, too) and a ballad medley distinguished by a rare Schenck solo on a brooding “Where or When.”

The bluesy Mobley drives the group, quoting everyone from Bizet to Bird. He unfurls chorus after chorus on “Pennies From Heaven,” spooling out impossibly quick and warm, ascending lines on “Blues Is Green” as audience members “yeah” along; at the same time, he can lay back, evoking the buttery Coleman Hawkins on “Darn That Dream.” Recorded by Ozzie Cadena, who would become an engineer and producer with Savoy and Prestige, Newark 1953 sheds light on a young Mobley who would shortly become a Jazz Messenger and two years later record his first Blue Note date as a leader.

The definitively mature Gordon recording is more leisurely and emotionally resonant. Take “Old Folks,” a highlight of this very fine disc. It starts with Gordon’s statement of the melody, his tenor shortly entwining with Reid’s stout and plummy bass. The tune swells as Cables’ piano splashes accumulate, Gladden’s brushwork sneaking in to shimmer in the background. Gordon’s tone is embracing, his inventiveness as effortless as his breath command.

No matter how wide Gordon’s sound, his intonation stays true-as does his expressiveness. No tricks here, just authority, and the musicians never lose track of the melody. Few players can blow engaging choruses for more than 10 minutes, as Gordon does here, finally ceding to Cables. The pianist steps in, arpeggio-drunk and cadenza-ready. Even though he piles up notes (especially in light of Gordon’s sparer, more spacious approach), Cables, too, holds the melody steady; the track is such a jaw-dropper, you can virtually hear the stunned silence of the Montreal crowd, which bursts into applause when Reid and Gladden join in, brightening the pace. Gordon returns to the tune almost 16 minutes in, briefly confident, even jaunty. But that’s a fake-out, a set-up for a burred series of cadenzas that takes out the tune with verve and dignity, Gordon loosening low notes, then squeezing out high ones, underlining the pathos and kindness at the core of that standard. “Old Folks” is only one of the four similarly expansive, singularly rich tracks that make up the core of this album. --- Carlo Wolff, jazztimes.com

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1 The Dip 7:57
2 Recado Bossa Nova 8:11
3 The Break Through 5:52
4 The Vamp 8:21
5 I See Your Face Before Me 5:29
6 Ballin' 6:51

Billy Higgins - Drums
Harold Mabern 	- Piano
Hank Mobley - Composer, Sax (Tenor)
Lee Morgan - Trumpet
Larry Ridley – Bass

Dippin' is one of Hank Mobley's finer moments, even considering that his entire Blue Note catalog is masterful, particularly his 1960s dates that reveal the depth and dimension of his understanding of harmonic invention -- all in the name of groove and swing, of course. This date, recorded on a single day in June of 1965, netted four Mobley originals as well as two covers. The band included trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Larry Ridley, and drummer Billy Higgins. The two-horn front line always served Mobley well. Here, with Morgan, the groove commences from the first notes of the title cut that opens the set. The short bluesy lines burst from the horns, and are turned inside out with elegant yet knotty lines that move the tune almost into pop territory but never venture far from the blues. The sprightly "Recado Bossa Nova," written by Djalma Ferreira, moves the band outside its comfort zone rhythmically, but Mobley's horn chart is brilliant. Higgins and Ridley keep the bossa groove natural and steaming as the soloists begin taking the tune apart and putting it back together. There is one ballad on the set, "I See Your Face Before Me" composed by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz. On it, Mobley does his best Ben Webster, blowing low and smoky and sweet, but the truth is that it doesn't belong on a program with so many hard bop swingers. The rest of the session is a pure joy and a fine document of Mobley's abilities as a bandleader and composer. ---Thom Jurek, Rovi

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CD1:
01 – Ow
02 – There’s A Small Hotel
03 – Ballad Medley – Darn That Dream ~ Where Or When ~ In Love In Vain ~ Stardust
04 – All That Things You Are
05 – Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid

CD2:
01 – Announcement
02 – Lullaby Of BirdLand
03 – Embraceable You
04 – Keen And Peachy
05 – Pennies From Heaven
06 – Blues Is Green
07 – ‘s Wonderful

Personnel: 
Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone); 
Bennie Green (trombone); 
Walter Davis, Jr. (piano); 
Charlie Persip (drums).

While major jazz record labels chase the latest crossover fad with borderline jazz content and ignore historical, significant, unissued jazz performances in their vaults, smaller labels like Uptown regularly surprise jazz fans with live recordings that few knew existed at all, such as this evening taped by jazz industry veteran Ozzie Cadena. Hank Mobley is heard leading a house band with pianist Walter Davis, Jr., drummer Charlie Persip, and the obscure bassist Jimmy Schenck, with trombonist Bennie Green as the guest for the week. These two sets recorded at The Piccadilly in Newark come from a single night in 1953, making them among Mobley's earliest known recordings. Green was the senior man on the date and likely the one calling the tunes, though the house band matches him throughout the evening with their potent solos and strong rhythm. The extended workout of "Ow" is marked by a number of humorous quotes in the solos of Green and Davis, while the ballad medley (a regular feature in Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts and numerous club dates) showcases each man in turn save Persip. The extended rendition of "All the Things You Are" incorporates Dizzy Gillespie's famous B-flat introductory vamp, with Green's languid playing swinging, in addition to Mobley's mellow choruses and fine work by Davis as well. Green is showcased in a rhapsodic setting of "Embraceable You" and his own uptempo "Blues Is Green," with the band providing plenty of fire on the latter song. Though Mobley was only 23 at the time of these performances, he is already showing plenty of confidence on the bandstand and is hardly overshadowed by the more widely known Green. The fidelity is typical for night club recordings, giving the listener the feeling of being near the stage, though without excessive crowd noise. Like earlier historical recordings on the label, this two-CD set has detailed liner notes (by Bob Blumenthal) and lots of period photographs. These recordings are the first of several made at The Piccadilly by Cadena to be issued commercially, so hopefully more will follow this valuable release on Uptown. ---Ken Dryden, Rovi

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1.Remember, 
2.This I Dig Of You, 
3.Dig Dis, 
4.Split Feelin's, 
5.Soul Station, 
6.If I Should Lose You

Personnel:  
Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone) 
Wynton Kelly (piano) 
Paul Chambers (bass) 
Art Blakey (drums)

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

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01 – Mighty Moe And Joe
02 – Lower Stratosphere
03 – East of Brooklyn
04 – Fin de l’affaire
05 – Touch And Go
06 – Fit For A Anker
07 – Curtain Call
08 – Avila And Tequila
09 – Gettin’ Into Something
10 – Peckin’ Time
11 – Double Exposure

Hank Mobley  - tenor saxophone
Lee Morgan  - trumpet
Donald Byrd – trumpet
Horace Silver – piano
Paul Chambers – bass
Charlie Persip – drums

Hank Mobley was born on July 7, 1930 in Eastman, Georgia, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. There was much music in his family, particularly piano music. Uncle Dave Mobley played piano among other instruments, and his mother and grandmother also played keyboards (his grandmother was a church organist). Piano became Mobley's first instrument; then he picked up the tenor sax at age 16 and basically taught himself the horn. On his uncle's advice, he listened initially to Lester Young and then to Don Byas, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt. "Anyone who can swing and get a message across," as Mobley explained his influences to Leonard Feather in 1956.

By his late teens, Mobley was working as a professional musician. He was hired by Paul Gayten and worked the rhythm and blues circuit with him between 1949 and '51, having been recommended by Clifford Brown (who had not heard Mobley play at the time but was aware of his growing reputation). "Hank was beautiful, he played alto, tenor and baritone and did a lot of the writing," Gayten recalled. "He took care of business and I could leave things up to him."

The Gayten band also included baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne and future Ellingtonians Clark Terry, Aaron Bell and Sam Woodyard. Working with the last three no doubt eased the way for Mobley's two-week stint as Jimmy Hamilton's replacement in the Ellington Orchestra during 1953. ("I didn't play clarinet, but I played some of the clarinet parts on tenor," he later recalled). While the band recorded, the material did not feature Mobley as a soloist.

Mobley's jazz recording debut was the product of a job he held in the house band of a Newark nightclub after leaving Gayten in 1951. Another promising youngster and future Blue Note artist, pianist Walter Davis, Jr., was also a part of the group, and the opportunity to back visiting stars including Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Billie Holiday, Bud Powell and Lester Young was invaluable to their rapid development.

Max Roach hired both Mobley and Davis after appearing at the Newark club, and brought them into rooms like the Apollo Bar before recording with them for Debut in March 1953. The session (now available on OJC) included both quartet and septet tracks and captures an already recognizable tenor stylist and composer. Roach reportedly tried to summon both Mobley and Clifford Brown to California to form what would become the Brown/Roach quintet in the summer of 1953, but was only able to locate the trumpeter.

Back on the East Coast, Mobley gained further experience with Davis, Tadd Dameron, Milt Jackson and J.J. Johnson. For much of 1954 he worked with Dizzy Gillespie, and participated in four of the trumpeter's recording sessions. After leaving Gillespie in September 1954, Mobley joined pianist Horace Silver's quartet at Minton's Playhouse, a group completed by basist Doug Watkins and drummer Arthur Edgehill.

"On weekends Art Blakey and Kenny Dorham would come in to jam, 'cause they were right around the corner," Mobley recalled, which led to Silver's first quintet session for Blue Note with Dorham, Mobley, Watkins and Blakey. The session was issued as Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, working a variation on the Messengers name that Blakey had employed for a larger ensemble several years earlier; and the five musicians decided to work in a cooperative relationship whenever any one of them was offered work.

When it came to music, Hank Mobley was extremely sure-footed in this period. If his drug problem created a less steady personal life and slowed his recording activities significantly for much of 1958 and '59, he was able to bounce back with Blue Note in 1960, when he entered his truly golden age on albums like Soul Station, Roll Call, and Workout.

Possessed of both his own conception, which made his music readily identifiable, and the equally rare inspiration that also made listening to his work eminently satisfying, Mobley was perpetually eclipsed throughout his career by more extroverted and influential sylists. His work was often downgraded as a lesser version of Sonny Rollins; and in 1960 and '61, when he worked with Miles Davis and recorded what are his greatest sessions under his own name, he was dismissed for not measuring up to his predecessor in the Davis band, John Coltrane.

When the avant-garde innovators dominated the attention of jazz critics a few years later, Mobley's playing was often dismissed as old hat and irrelevant. It has only been in the years since he stopped recording (his last session, co-led with Cedar Walton, took place in 1972), and especially since his death in 1986, that the exceptional quality of his playing and writing has begun to receive a commensurate measure of respect. ---Bob Blumenthal, hardbop.tripod.com

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01. Tenor Conclave
02. Just You, Just Me
03. Bob’s Boys
04. How Deep Is The Ocean

Personnel:
Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, John Coltrane — tenor sax
Red Garland — piano
Paul Chambers — bass
Arthur Taylor — drums

This September 7, 1956 session is a loose blowing date that reprises the notion of a four saxophone concord as it was originally presented by the Four Brothers in Woody Herman's boppish late '40s big band, the Thundering Herd. Tenor brothers Al Cohn and Zoot Sims--spiritual progeny of Lester Young--join forces with Hank Mobley and John Coltrane--descendants of Charlie Parker--to depict the kind of good-natured, after hours cutting sessions that helped young improvisers determine how far they had come, and how much more work remained to be done.

The superb rhythm section of Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor helps make TENOR CONCLAVE more than just another exercise in technical bluster. As he did with Miles Davis, pianist Garland custom tailors his accompaniment to fit the style of each soloist, while bassist Chambers offers the kind of matchless harmonic and rhythmic virtuosity that made his name synonymous with modern jazz bass playing in the late '50s. Dig how they team with drummer Taylor to urge on each soloist on Mobley's title tune, and when they go to Chambers for two choruses of expressively bowed bass, the groove never lags or falters.

"Just You, Just Me" offers up a modern set of chord changes to navigate (Monk's tricky melody "Evidence.") The ensemble work suggests the warm interplay of the original Four Brothers, and Mobley's simmering rhythmic ideas and burnished sound function as a prelude for Zoot Sims' garrulous Lesterisms, and floating rhythmic ideas. Coltrane enters with a hard, keening cry, the ideas rapidly unfurling in the harmonic wind tunnel of his imagination. He holds things in check enough to accommodate Cohn's contrasting timbre and rhythm style, and all four players display enormous empathy during their concluding round-robin exchanges.

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