Hank Mobley was an outstanding but under-appreciated tenor saxman. I knew him as a sideman with Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, and Miles, but had never heard any of his sessions as a bandleader. Then I got Soul Station for Amy this Christmas. Damn, this is an amazing album. As the only horn in the (relatively rare) quartet, Mobley shines, but he does so in an understated way–no superfluous flash, just solid brilliance.
Mobley reminds me a little of Dexter Gordon here, but while Gordon found a way to keep going after jazz receded from popular consciousness, Mobley seems to have faded away, recording just two albums in the ’70s. He apparently died in obscurity in ’86, and he deserves better–check out his catalog.
(Speaking of which, I just came across the Jazz Discography Project, an incredible resource lovingly maintained by
Nobuaki Togashi, Kohji ‘Shaolin’ Matsubayashi, Masayuki Hatta. Thank you, thank you, thank you.)
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Thanks for the link to the Jazz Project. I randomly clicked on a musician and came up with Scott Laforo who died in Geneva, NY; my Dads hometown.
I emailed my dad the link to LaForo and it turns out my dad was in the HS orchestra and band with “Scottie”. Scottie was killed by a guy who lived across the street from my dad. According to my dad Scott Laforo is the most successful person to come out of Geneva, NY. Geneva is upstate in the Finger Lake region.
Thanks
Wow, small world. And considering the post above on Sonny Clark, so many of these guys died young. Anyone who thinks the early, violent death of musicians is a hip-hop phenomenon (I’m occasionally guilty of that) needs to keep in mind that jazzmen were living on the ragged edge 50 years ago.
Sonny Clark and Hank Mobley. Two of my very favorite musicians. Thanks for the Giddins bit too.
I would gladly invite you on my blog, but… it’s in French!
Keep swinging,
Domi.
Thanks, Lady Domi. And thanks to Babelfish, je (sort of) parle francais. And even though the translation’s not that great, I loved your post on Rose Murphy, who I’d never heard of before. Now I’m already hooked by her Amazon samples–great stuff.
Well, come back any time, you’ll always be welcome!
Keeo swinging, Domi.