During his long and productive career, tenor saxist Hank Mobley was termed “The Middleweight Champ: of the tenor sax, due to his “round” sound being halfway between the beefy Sonny Rollins/Dexter Gordon and the airy Lester Young/Stan Getz tones. What this 8 disc limited edition set shows is that not only was Mobley a master of creating his own unique and personal sound, but he was one of the most gifted and underrated composers/arrangers of his, or any, generation. While he never quite got his due during his short 55 year life, his tenor sax playing from his early days of the fledgling hard bop recordings up to this collection of tracks (with only one session subsequently released) has slowly become to be recognized as one of the most important forces of small group jazz.
This collection begins right after Mobley rode the wave of successful albums such as Workout and Roll Call as well as his critically important stint with Miles Davis.He was still on a creative roll in 1963’s No Room For Squares with Donald Byrd/tp, Herbie Hancock/p, Philly Joe Jones/dr, Andrew Hill/p Lee Morgan/tp and Butch Warren/b. The two sessions for this album produced a very advanced title track as well as a rollicking blues “Me ‘N’ You” with Morgan in a blistering mood.
The 1965 followup The Turnaround is just as strong, but also a major step forward with a different sound, with the likes of Freddie Hubbard/tp, Billy Higgins/dr, Paul Chambears/b and proto-bopper Barry Harris digging in on the clever modern Latin bopper “East of the Village” and the stretched out blueser “Pat ‘N’ Chat.” Mobley’s tone starts to get a bit darker here with an extra blues and grit, making the title tune palpable in texture. The same year saw the release of Dippin’ back with long-time friend Morgan, still with Higgins and now with Harold Mabern/p and Larry Ridley/b with the team buoyant on the title track, “Recorda Bossa Nova” and Mobley turning into a Texas Tenor on the rich “I See Your Face Before Me.” Completing the trio of strong sessions that year was A Caddy For Daddy, with the extra trombone of Curtis Fuller adding dimension along with the harmonics of McCoy Tyner/p and Bob Cranshaw/b along with chums Higgins and Morgan.
The big leap came the following year with 1966’s ambitious A Slice Off The Top. Kind of a post-bop version of Birth of the Cool, this fascinating session brings in his previous albums band with the added tuba of Howard Johnson, Kiane Zawadi/s euphonium and James Spaulding’s alto sax and flute. The charts by Mobley and Duke Pearson still sound modern and enticing, with a gorgeous lilt to “Cute ‘N’ Pretty” (Mobley did love those “N” song titles!) and the aggressive stampedes of “Hanks Other Bag” and “A Touch Of Blue.” He kept this advancement and experimentation of sounds alive on 1967’s Third Season (which wasn’t released until 1980) features the guitar of Sonny Greenwich, who gets some space on the gospel-drenched “Gimme That Feelin’” with Mobley showing strong composing talents on “An Apertif” and “Don’t Cry, Just Sigh.”
From the same period, Straight No Filter, Far Away Lands and High Voltage are amazingly consistent advanced hard bop releases, with impressive Mobley compositions “Third Time Around” “The Hippity Hop” “No Argument” and “No More Goodbyes” showing an apotheosis of the leader’s skills at the pen. The only misstep is 1968’s Reach Out with George Benson on guitar that has the band trying to crossover into the pop-soul genre. He recovers in 1960 with The Flip with a three horn front line of Mobley and Slide Hampton/tb with Dizzy Reese/tp. Even better was the advanced trumpet of Woody Shaw teamed with Cedar Walton/p and Eddie Diehl/g, which closed out his Blue Note era on a strong note. The swan song included a clever “Suite” as well as stretched out “Justine” along with the cooker “You Gotta Hit It.”
Mobley actually didn’t record much after this all of this, as his lung condition forced him to retire, finally resulting in his 1986 death from pneumonia. This strong boxed set is an impressive legacy, proud to stand with his sessions with Miles Davis. The biography/session notes by Bob Blumenthal are exemplary and the studio photos by Francis Wolff capture the attitude and aura of this apotheosis of modern jazz.