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Hank Mobley

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Eastman, Georgia (1930 – 1986)

Henry (Hank) Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the “middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone”, a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz. This description however was translated by jazz connoisseurs as though Mobley was mediocre. And as his style was laid-back, subtle and melodic, especially in contrast with players like Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, it took connoisseurs until after his demise to fully appreciate his talent.

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 in one of the landmark hard bop sessions, alongside Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The results of these sessions were released as Horace Silver & The Jazz Messengers. They contrasted with the classical pretensions 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 some years later, when the drummer appeared on Mobley’s albums in the early 60s.

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, such as Grant Green, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Clark, Wynton Kelly and Philly Joe Jones, and formed a particularly productive partnership with trumpeter Lee Morgan.

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Hank Mobley
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Soul Station
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A Sample
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Workout
Hank Mobley
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Top Tracks

1	Dig This (1960)	214
2	Recado Bossa Nova full track	212
3	This I Dig Of You full track	178
4	Soul Station full track	163
4	Dig Dis full track	163
6	Remember full track	156
7	Split Feelin's full track	138
8	If I Should Lose You full track	128
9	The Dip full track	126
10	No Room for Squares full track	47
10	The Breakdown full track	47
12	Workout full track	46
13	Smokin' full track	45
14	Uh Huh full track	43
15	The Good Life full track	40

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F_Hole wrote:
Sunday evening

I was asleep too long on Hank, even though I'd loved his solos on Someday My Prince Will Come since I first heard it in the '70's, before I'd discovered the joys of a softer tenor sound like Lester Young or Ben Webster.

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mada11 wrote:
last month

Yup

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doceasubio wrote:
last month

Paaa@ffffff

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SanPdro wrote:
last month

Workout is stupendous.

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SirAlecHendrix wrote:
September 2008

Hank Mobley—now connected to the brandnew group ➤ Round Midnight

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Rauding wrote:
August 2008

and i agree, praisingfolly , soul station is smooth so smooth

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Rauding wrote:
August 2008

one of my favorites, so relaxing, cool as hell.

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praisingfolly wrote:
August 2008

Soul Station is so smooth... my favorite in a slew of jazz albums I've discovered recently, and my #5 jazz album all time (just edging out Bitches Brew).

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RyanJones wrote:
May 2008

No Room For Squares is so good.

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Os_ wrote:
April 2008

Mobley is undoubtly one of my favourites. Together with Coltrane and Gordon the best of that time.

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arrdis wrote:
June 2007

the cover-boy of blue notes looks like an asian rufus wainwright minus the sideburns

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gautam3 wrote:
June 2007

Yeah, Mobley's the man.

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F_Hole wrote:
April 2007

Miles liked him enough to record with him. So did Kenny Dorham. He made LPs with the great Wynton Kelly, like 'Soul Station', which I highly recommend. Awesome player.

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JazzyRandy wrote:
April 2007

When it comes to jazz sax in the 60s, who, besides Coltrane, was appreciably better than Mobley? No one, that's who.

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lookingup wrote:
November 2006

mmh love mobley sound and his band during the 60's was amazing with blakey on drums !! i want the same sound :p

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soyouclaimjaffa wrote:
June 2006

you could also say fish

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qalated3 wrote:
May 2006

What else can I say? The best

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Recent Activity

Annaspo tagged Hank Mobley with ‘saxophone’, ‘bebop’ and ‘jazz’. yesterday afternoon
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F_Hole updated the wiki page for Hank Mobley. (diff) Sunday evening
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DCWash tagged Hank Mobley with ‘be-bop’, ‘bebop’, ‘jazz instrumental’ and ‘jazz’. August 2008