Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley Quintet (RVG Edition)
ARTIST.....: Hank Mobley
TITLE......: Hank Mobley Quintet (RVG Edition)
LABEL......: Blue Note Records
URL........: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7725671
RIP DATE...: Oct-11-2008
STORE DATE.: Sep-02-2008
GENRE......: Jazz
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 49,10 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Funk In Deep Freeze 06:47
02 - Wham And They're Off 07:39
03 - Fin De L'affaire 06:37
04 - Startin' From Scratch 06:38
05 - Stella-Wise 07:15
06 - Base On Balls 07:29
07 - Funk In Deep Freeze (Alternate Take) 06:55
08 - Wham And They're Off (Alternate Take) 07:37
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56:57 min
Release Notes:
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 position in the jazz canon. He truly
deserves a reevaluation. This delightfully warm set was cut on
March 8, 1957 with Mobley on tenor sax, Art Farmer on trumpet,
Horace Silver on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and the energetic
and busy Art Blakey on drums, which makes for a pretty nice
session band when all is said and done. All eight selections (two
are bonus tracks, alternate versions of "Funk in Deep Freeze" and
"Wham and They're Off") are original Mobley compositions and show
off his ù you guessed it ù underrated writing and arranging
ability. "Wham and They're Off" is an aptly named piece, bouncing
breezily out of the box in both versions, while "Base on Balls" is
wonderfully lazy and laconic, unwinding into a perfectly loose and
soulful jam for a long summer's day. "Funk in Deep Freeze," by the
way, seems more frozen than it is funk, but it's still fun. The
bottom line is that this is a superior quintet working
effortlessly together, and Mobley's concisely measured, round sax
tone binds everything into a beautifully nuanced set, even with
the bonus tracks tacked on at the end. Mobley might not have been
out there pushing the envelope with his instrument, but here he
plays with confidence and lyrical economy, making this easily one
of his best outings.