On this date in 1956, Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley drove over New York's George Washington Bridge on their way to Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, N.J., to finish work on Introducing Lee Morgan for Savoy. Joining them on the session were pianist Hank Jones, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Taylor. One of the tracks they recorded 55 years ago today was Fats Navarro's Nostalgia, a song based on Out of Nowhere. Take a November moment to listen to a perfect quintet take on a perfect tune...
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e008dca1f088340162fc302dfe970d
Further evidence that Mobley is among the most gifted and, at the same time, underrated players in the history of post-bop. In addition to his sound, what separates Hank from the pack is his writing. Unlike most artists, he composed most of the music he recorded. And these aren't the sort of paint-by-the- numbers, throwaway, jam-ready tunes you see and hear so often from that era. Mobley's work is catchy, complex and well thought out but, most importantly, it's listenable. He is, hands down, my favorite jazz saxophonist.
Per Dave Jame's comment above, I think Mobley has suffered a bit for being over-recorded by Blue Note as a leader - clearly he was one of their favorites, too!!
I've never heard a bad Mobley session, but there are so many to choose from, it can be hard to pick out the ones that really show how good he could be rather than just another good tenor running in a rather large pack.
I also think he's suffered in memory because he didn't have the sort of hard-edged, blow-'em-down tone and attack that became the norm in Hard Bop, which is ironic as he was one of the original Hard-Boppers. There are some other tenor players that I think suffer a bit in current renown for similar reasons, such as Benny Golson.
The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Marc Myers writes frequently on music and the arts for the Wall Street Journal. He is author of "Why Jazz Happened" (University of California Press). In 2012, JazzWax was named the Jazz Journalists Association's "Blog of the Year."
Wow !.. I loved Nostalgia...and not just because Out of Nowhere is probably my favorite tune...Thanks for the great work you do Marc !
Posted by: Jazzbo | November 07, 2011 at 09:55 AM
What a great band !
Those changes are so beautiful. Never get tired of them.
Thanks
Posted by: Denis Ouellet | November 07, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Very relaxed session that flows beautifully.
Thanks Marc
Posted by: Richard Noorigian | November 07, 2011 at 12:06 PM
Further evidence that Mobley is among the most gifted and, at the same time, underrated players in the history of post-bop. In addition to his sound, what separates Hank from the pack is his writing. Unlike most artists, he composed most of the music he recorded. And these aren't the sort of paint-by-the- numbers, throwaway, jam-ready tunes you see and hear so often from that era. Mobley's work is catchy, complex and well thought out but, most importantly, it's listenable. He is, hands down, my favorite jazz saxophonist.
Posted by: Dave James | November 07, 2011 at 12:15 PM
Per Dave Jame's comment above, I think Mobley has suffered a bit for being over-recorded by Blue Note as a leader - clearly he was one of their favorites, too!!
I've never heard a bad Mobley session, but there are so many to choose from, it can be hard to pick out the ones that really show how good he could be rather than just another good tenor running in a rather large pack.
I also think he's suffered in memory because he didn't have the sort of hard-edged, blow-'em-down tone and attack that became the norm in Hard Bop, which is ironic as he was one of the original Hard-Boppers. There are some other tenor players that I think suffer a bit in current renown for similar reasons, such as Benny Golson.
Posted by: T.K. Tortch | November 07, 2011 at 09:25 PM
A bit of sun in this rainy autumn......
Posted by: Ray Accardi | November 08, 2011 at 05:45 AM