Hank Mobley’s ‘Roll Call’ comes cut from
the same cloth as his superb highest-rated work from the same period in the
early sixties, namely ‘Soul Station’, ‘Workout’ and ‘Another Workout’. This
session though makes its own name for itself with a much more energetic take,
right from the opening crashing drum-rolls courtesy of Mr Art Blakey.
It would be fair to say though that all
of the three afore-mentioned albums are better efforts, and the clear cream of
the crop, mainly due to the greater presence of Mobley himself and plenty of
his soft and warm rounded tone. Here, alongside his tenor, Freddie Hubbard
lends his considerable talent with the trumpet, and it’s his horn with its
harder edgier tone that surprisingly dominates throughout. The quintet are all
strong, much as you’d expect from a grouping of Mobley, Hubbard, Blakey, Wynton
Kelly and Paul Chambers, but it is Hubbard that dazzles the most, with his
effortless yet unmistakeable pumped up and muscular playing. On ‘The More I See
You’ he even apes/homages Miles Davis, and very successfully too.
Mobley’s tunes are, as always, excellent;
as much as his easy-going and songlike saxophone was often criticised at the
time, for not being adventurous enough, his skill with writing was, even for
the most ardent critic, hard to ignore. Even so, his playing here is stylish
and cool, without being unimpassioned. Blakey too makes a great impression
throughout with his clattering personalised style of drumming.
‘Roll Call’ has been somewhat
overshadowed by the tenor mans other, perhaps more famous, sessions from the
late fifties and early sixties, and although justifiable when up against those
standout works, it is a consistently strong listen that sits well in their
company and is very well-deserving of some greater recognition as being one of Mobleys
best dates.
****
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