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,…

This CD is a straight reissue of a Hank Mobley LP that features the “Who’s Who” of late-’50s hard bop: the tenor-leader, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Blakey. The quintet performs five Mobley compositions (best is the lyrical “Mobley’s Musings”), songs that…

This is one of tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley’s more intriguing sessions, for the talented composer had an opportunity to have four of his originals, plus the standard “There’s a Lull in My Life,” performed by an octet in the cool-toned style of Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool” nonet,…

Hank Mobley was a perfect artist for Blue Note in the 1960s. A distinctive but not dominant soloist, Mobley was also a very talented writer whose compositions avoided the predictable yet could often be quite melodic and soulful; his tricky originals consistently inspired the young all-stars in Blue Note’s…

This is one of the best-known Hank Mobley recordings, and for good reason. Although none of his four originals (“Workout,” “Uh Huh,” “Smokin’,” “Greasin’ Easy”) caught on, the fine saxophonist is in top form. He jams on the four tunes, plus “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” with…

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley has been called underrated so many times that the word may as well have been his middle name, and when combined with the numerous financial, personal, and health issues the saxophonist endured during his career, it all added up to a middle of the pack…

Urbie Green (tb) Gil Melle (ts, bars) Tal Farlow (g) Clyde Lombardi (b) Joe Morello (d) Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, October 25, 1953

Gil Melle (bars) Lou Mecca (g) Bill Phillips (b) Vinnie Thomas (d) Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 5, 1954

Don Butterfield (tu) Gil Melle (bars) Lou Mecca (g) Bill Phillips (b) Vinnie Thomas (d) Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, February 27, 1955

Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 2, 1952 Eddie Bert (tb) Gil Melle (ts) Joe Manning (vib) George Wallington (p) Red Mitchell (b) Max Roach (d) Monica Dell Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, January 31, 1953 Eddie Bert (tb) Gil Melle (ts) George Wallington (p) Tal Farlow…