Hank Mobley is one of my favourite sax players. Owner of a smooth soulful silky sound, his ability to 'sing into his horn' as Benny Golson put it, unfortunately relegated him to the bottom shelf for the critics of the day, who were apparently looking in the wrong direction at the time. In hindsight and retrospect though, his works have come under serious re-evaluation, not just for his great playing, but also for his superb composing abilities. Not forgetting he was also one of the first Jazz Messengers. A great and under-valued player, Hank Mobley's true best record is the excellent 'Soul Station' from 1960. Buy it.
The often forgotten Hank Mobley had a
remarkable run in the 1950’s, recording over some forty albums, largely for
Blue Note, in a period of less than ten years. Most of these were with stars
such as Donald Byrd, Sonny Clark, Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Art
Blakey, Paul Chambers, Louis Hayes and Jackie McClean, to name just a small
few.
Then, in 1958, just after the ‘Peckin’
Time’ album with Lee Morgan, he was arrested for drugs offences and sentenced
to one year in prison. Subsequently presenting Blue Note with some promotional
difficulties on his release, he gradually found his way back into the business
with the help of Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers group, who he gad
originally come to prominence with in the early fifties. ‘Soul Station’ in 1960
though was his first full return to Blue Note as the star that would later
yield such other excellent works as ‘Roll Call’ and ‘Workout’, among many
others.
The quartet format of ‘Soul Station’,
with Art Blakey on drums, Paul Chambers on bass and Wynton Kelly on piano suits
Mobley very well, with less clutter and more room for Mobley’s big soulful
sound. His perfectly rounded sound too was never ‘too emotional’ or shouting
for the spotlight to be noticed, like say John Coltrane or other more avant-garde
leaning players of the time. Often he would play the lines simply and
melodically, almost restrained, content to be a strong team player rather than
the standout. The quartet setting allows him to be fully heard, with his sax
frequently and uncompromisingly smoothly walking in, as highlighted on the
Irving Berlin standard ‘Remember’ that opens proceedings. A nice gentle swing opens,
before Mobley’s solo kicks in, with a real show of strength that perhaps he’d
been missing in the more over-powering and constrictive bigger groups.
The real heart here though is the four
blues-based compositions that really show what Mobley’s strongest point was.
‘This I Dig Of You’ is a fast paced number, but with light-as-a-feather playing,
and a standout opening piano solo from Kelly that gradually builds before
leaping into a long almost career-best solo from Mobley that forms the meat of
the piece. Blakey gets to climax the piece with a characteristic solo, before
‘Dig Dis’ gives us a more obviously blues based beat with some high expressive
solos again from Kelly then Mobley.
‘Split Feelin’s’ is up-tempo in the same
mould as ‘This I Dig Of You’, with more great sax work before surprisingly, as
everything is just hitting a sprint for the finish, it fades out. The title
track gives us more low-down blues figures with the band spacing out for some
particularly fine piano and bass solos, and then the standard ‘If I Should Lose
You’ closes out a pitch-perfect brilliantly.
A classic recording, with a nice balance
of four originals placed between two standards, all of the band here is almost
perfectly attuned to what needs to be played and how. As much Wynton Kelly’s
record as it is Hank Mobley’s, here he is lyrical and playful with a soft and
soulful touch on his keys, and both men laying down playing that surpasses
anything from their comparatively small output with Miles Davis. Mobley is tastefully
restrained, almost aware of what the listener needs and wants, refraining from
any ecstatic emotional showiness or squawking, he is calmly and subtly powerful
throughout, his tone a constant pleasure to hear here. An overlooked and
under-rated player, Mobley produced a solid number of brilliant albums – and ‘Soul
Station’ is his ultimate recording. It is well worth anybody’s time.
*****
It is alongside three exceptional musicians that Mobley recorded *Soul Station* for Blue Note in February 1960, at Van Gelder’s studio in New Jersey. Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b), and Art Blakey (dm) accompany Mobley at the peak of his career, as he continually delivers inspired and confident solos. The tracks follow a classic hard-bop arrangement: a theme is introduced at the beginning, followed by solos that develop around it, before returning to the same theme as a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteThe album opens with Berlin’s “Remember,” on which Mobley takes the first solo and delivers beautiful phrases, punctuated by well-judged pauses. Kelly follows him, with arguably his best solo on the album. The third solo goes to Chambers, but it lasts only 32 bars, which is a little too short to really give it much depth.
Next comes “This I Dig of You,” a Mobley composition, as are the following three tracks. Kelly opens the piece with a very solid solo during which he strings together several rhythmic accelerations, giving his performance greater relief and substance. Mobley follows, with a solo that is slightly less impressive than on “Remember,” but still very good. The final solo goes this time to Blakey, who delivers a superb performance: far from limiting himself to simply pounding away on the snare drum, he enriches it with other elements that give it a particular depth.
Side A ends with “Dig Dis,” a piece that is pure demonstration from Mobley. The most striking passage comes between 1:20 and 2:00: the way the rhythm trio responds to Mobley is simply stunning. The interaction between the musicians is impressive and once again demonstrates the talent of this quartet. Kelly gives a quality performance here, although it is slightly less impressive than on the first two tracks.
Side B is solid overall, despite featuring less memorable tracks. Blakey remains very strong, especially on “Split Feelin’s,” where he adds rhythmic variations to the solos by Mobley and Kelly, who are once again highly inspired.
The title track has a slower tempo and a very good atmosphere. The rhythm section provides few variations and the arrangement is simpler. Mobley and Kelly deliver, before Chambers takes a second solo, longer and more substantial than his first.
The album ends with what is arguably its least outstanding track: a rendition of “If I Should Lose You,” featuring two fairly conventional solos from Mobley and Kelly, without being bad by any means.
In conclusion, the album retains its 10/10 rating thanks to an exceptional quartet. A Mobley in magnificent form, a highly inspired Kelly, both in his solos and in his rhythmic playing, a Chambers who does what is asked of him, and a Blakey who retains his characteristic power: these are the ingredients of a phenomenal album, one of the finest in the hard-bop style.