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Hank Mobley

As one of the founding members of the original Jazz Messengers, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was part of a brilliant innovation. Bebop's second generation of players had pulled the music into a tailspin of virtuosity. But there was a new inspirational sound taking hold, with roots in gospel and blues. By combining the best of bebop with the soulful new thing springing up, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins fashioned a sound with a percussive, street feel inspired by the hot steam grates and pavement they walked, the propulsive drive of the lives they were leading.

Mobley was born in Eastman, Georgia, but was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Newark. Early in his career, he worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. He took part on one of the landmark hard bop sessions, alongside Blakey, Silver and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The results of these sessions were released as "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers." They contrasted with the classical pretentions of cool jazz, with Mobley's rich lyricism being bluesier, alongside the funky approach of Horace Silver. When The Jazz Messengers split in 1956, Mobley continued on with pianist Horace Silver for a short time, although he did work again with Blakey several years later.

During the 1960s, he worked chiefly as a leader, recording 25 albums for Blue Note Records, including "Soul Station" and "Roll Call" between 1955 and 1970. He performed with many of the most important hard bop players and formed a particularly productive partnership with trumpeter Lee Morgan.

Mobley also spent a brief time in 1961 with Miles Davis, during the trumpeter's search for a replacement for John Coltrane. He is heard on the album "Someday My Prince Will Come" (alongside Coltrane, who returned for the recording of some tracks), and some live recordings (In Person: Live at the Blackhawk and At Carnegie Hall). Though criticized by some for not having the improvisational fire of Coltrane, Mobley was still a major voice on tenor saxophone, known for his melodic playing.

Mobley was forced to retire in the mid-1970s due to lung problems. He worked briefly with Duke Jordan before his death of pneumonia in 1986.

Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley - Companion Mixtape

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 29, 2020

This mixtape is a fun-filled companion to the two parts of our show “Hanksgiving -A Tribute to Hank Mobley," giving even more insight in the legacy of Hank Mobley as a saxophonist and composer through some of his gems and some of the best renditions of his tunes. [Listen to Part 1 and Part 2] Happy listening! Playlist Hank Mobley “The Dip" Dippin' (Blue Note) 0:00 Ingrid Jensen “Avila and Tequila" Here on Earth (Enja) 7:54 ...

Radio & Podcasts

Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley - Part 2

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 20, 2020

This year our seasonal Hanksgiving episodes celebrates a musician that is a cult figure in the world of saxophonists and fans of the Blue Note catalogue, saxophonist and composer Hank Mobley. The show features a mix of Hank Mobley's tuens and renditions of his work by peers that were attracted by his brand of jazz firmly grounded in the blues and R&B roots that he had mastered in the years that preceded his first engagement, with Art Blakey and his ...

Radio & Podcasts

Hanksgiving - A Tribute to Hank Mobley, Part 1

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 17, 2020

For our seasonal Hanksgiving show, this year we pay tribute to Hank Mobley, both as a saxophonist and a composer, by playing music from his albums, which are a cornerstone of the Blue Note sound and catalogue, and renditions of his music by musicians that came after him. There's so much to love in Mobley's repertoire. Happy listening and happy Hanksgiving, so it may very well become your new favorite holiday, the jazz equivalent of Festivus for the ...

Reassessing

Dial "S" for Sonny

by C. Michael Bailey
May 20, 2020

Pianist Sonny Clark was culturally marginalized in much the same way as his contemporary Elmo Hope—both heroin-addicted jazz musicians in the 1950s: at the time, and romantically, a cliche. Both pianists have been sorely lumped into the “Bud Powell school of bop piano" which superficially may seem accurate until one considers the evolutionary continuum of jazz piano that places both Clark and Hope conceptually and stylistically beyond Powell. Clark was born in Georgia and raised outside of jny: ...

Building a Jazz Library

Hard Bop: An Alternative Top Ten

by Chris May
April 30, 2020

Hard bop was the jazz centre of the world from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s, producing many hundreds of immortal albums. Trying to whittle these down to a definitive Top Ten is fun--but it is a subjective and ultimately impossible exercise. In an attempt to dodge those hurdles, the list which follows takes a route a little less travelled and excludes the genre's most celebrated releases, among them: Miles Davis' Cookin' With The Miles Davis ...

Album Review

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin'

Read "Just Coolin'" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
April 14, 2020

Great moments play all over Just Coolin', the new archival Blue Note Art Blakey release from 1959, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio with Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt. For a bit of history, let's just point out that Hank Mobley was returning to the tenor chair he held from 1951-56, but which had just recently (for back then) been occupied by Shorter, and before him Benny Golson. Not the slightest expectation here. And should there have been ...

Album Review

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin'

Read "Just Coolin'" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
April 3, 2020

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man or woman in possession of a good quantity of Art Blakey albums, must be in want of a lot more. Previously unreleased albums are particularly enticing. So do not be fooled by the Reid Miles-inspired cover of Just Coolin': the disc is previously unissued. It presents Blakey in his pomp fronting a dream-team Jazz Messengers lineup. AAJers do not need to be reminded that Blakey was at the ...

Recording

Backgrounder: Hank Mobley - Soul Station (1960)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 23, 2024

Soul Station was Hank Mobley's finest album. The trio behind him on the Blue Note release was tough, sensitive and swinging, and the song choices make this a perfect album. The four originals by the tenor saxophonist are among his best, and the two standards chosen are in the pocket for this quartet. Recorded in February 1960, the album featured Hank Mobley (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Art Blakey (d). The drive is fired up by Blakey, ...
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Recording

Backgrounder: Hank Mobley Quintet, 1957

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 20, 2024

Recorded in August 1957, Hank Mobely Quintet featured the tenor saxophonist fronting a band that had been an early lineup of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The only difference was that Art Farmer played trumpet instead of Kenny Dorham. The quintet featured Hank Mobley (ts), Art Farmer (tp), Horace Silver (p), Doug Watkins (b) and Art Blakey (d). The six tracks were all by Mobley, showing him off to be as inventive a composer as he was a tenor ...
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Recording

Backgrounder: Hank Mobley - Poppin', 1966

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 22, 2024

In tribute to Michael Cuscuna, the great jazz-reissue record producer and Mosaic co-founder who died April 19, I thought I'd feature one of my favorite Hank Mobley albums today as a Backgrounder. Michael found Poppin' in the Blue Note vaults when he was there and released the album for the first time in 1980. If not for Michael, we wouldn't have many of the Blue Note albums that we have today that were released under his stewardship. Michael operated assertively ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Hank Mobley

Source: Michael Ricci
July 7, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Hank Mobley's birthday today!

Video / DVD

Video: Hank Mobley in Denmark, 1968

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 1, 2022

Late last night, I heard from Bill Pauluh, who informed me that a video of Hank Mobley just went up on YouTube. The clip, from a Danish TV show called JazzBeat, was taped live on March 8 at the famed Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is big news, since so little video exists of the tenor saxophonist in action. The nearly nine-minute video features Mobely with Dexter Gordon's rhythm section at the time—Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Hank Mobley

Source: Michael Ricci
July 7, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Hank Mobley's birthday today!

Performance / Tour

Introducing 'Live From Van Gelder Studio,' A Groundbreaking Virtual Music Series Staged From Legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studio: The Room Where Jazz Happened

Source: DL Media
November 2, 2020

Van Gelder Studio, the legendary recording studio home to hundreds of jazz icons from John Coltrane to Herbie Hancock, has announced the launch of “Live from Van Gelder Studio," a new virtual music series that will stream live from VanGelder.live. The series will debut on Saturday, November 14th at 9PM EST and will feature an all-star quartet who will pay tribute to jazz great Hank Mobley, whose most beloved recordings turn 60 this year. Performers include bassist Ron Carter, tenor ...
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Recording

Hank Mobley: Soul Station

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 6, 2020

When I write, I often wish I had pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Blakey as my backing trio. I'd set them up in my office, and their swinging feel would motivate me to finish twice the work I set out to accomplish. While this isn't possible and wouldn't be even if they were still with us, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was lucky to have them behind him on February 7, 1960, when he recorded Soul Station—arguably ...
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Video / DVD

Hank Mobley: Blue Note, 1963-70

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 16, 2020

Between 1963 and 1970, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded 12 albums' worth of hard bop. Seven were released by Blue Note during this period, while the rest wound up sidelined in the vaults. When discovered in the CD era by producer Michael Cuscuna, the lost Mobley tracks were assembled and released as five additional albums. Now, Mosaic Records (with Michael producing) has released The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions, 1963-70, an eight-CD box with a lush booklet and poignant ...
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Video / DVD

Hank Mobley: Just Coolin'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 2, 2015

Before the Wrecking Crew, Funk Brothers or any of the other session bands in the pop-rock and soul era, there was Blue Note. Back in the early 1950s, Alfred Lion came up with the concept of a steadily employed stable of musicians who would record in different configurations for his label. It was ingenious, really, and born out of necessity. With the 12-inch LP in full swing by 1955, labels needed a ton of music to remain competitive. Each side ...
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"Hank Mobley is the most lyrical saxophonist I’ve ever heard. He sang into his horn." —Benny Golson”