Hank Mobley Reissue Roundup #2

'Another Workout,' 'Dippin', 'High Voltage'

The re-emergence of Blue Note Records in the mid-1980s has had a profound impact on the way the work of any number of jazz musicians is viewed by fans and historians alike. Ike Quebec, Jackie McLean, and Hank Mobley are some who spring quickly to mind, but there are many others as well. Many of Mobley’s sessions for the label were never released in any form until after 1985, when it was re-launched. The ongoing CD reissues of the famous Rudy Van Gelder series provide more and more of Mobley’s work, providing additional insight into the tenor saxophonist’s true place in the history of recorded jazz. In the first part of this Mobley reissue roundup we looked at three of Hank’s late-career recordings: The Flip, Roll Call, and Thinking of Home. Here we’ll turn our attention to three Mobley reissues that span his career with Blue Note: Another Workout, recorded in 1961, Dippin’, recorded in 1965, and Hi Voltage, recorded in 1967.

Another Workout was recorded in December of 1961, the successor to Workout, recorded in March of ’61. Workout featured Mobley and guitarist Grant Green along with the rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. The material for Another Workout is performed without Green, leaving the basic tenor with rhythm section quartet that is heard here. In the spring of ’61, Mobley played with Miles Davis, and can be heard on Miles Davis In Person Friday & Saturday Night at the Blackhawk.

Another Workout isn’t quite as good as its predecessor, in part due to Green’s absence, but Mobley is at his best here, playing the Dexter-ish bop of the opening “Out of Joe’s Bag” with energy to spare. Kelly, Chambers, and Jones are in great form also, demonstrating why they are one of the great jazz rhythm sections of all time. Many, including Michael Cuscuna in his original 1985 liner notes, believe this period of 1960-61, when Mobley recorded four albums for Blue Note (Soul Station, Roll Call, Workout, and Another Workout) to be his best. After Another Workout Mobley was absent from recording for over a year. When he returned he released a string of great albums from 1963 to 1970, including the classic No Room For Squares. However, he had begun to be influenced by his time with Miles Davis and by the increasingly large shadow of John Coltrane, and had begun to simplify his playing into simpler, more declarative lines, concentrating on rhythm at least as much as melody.

“Getting’ and Jettin’” and “Hank’s Other Soul” are Mobley originals that sound great here, though Mobley revisited both compositions, rearranging and re-titling them for later albums. While Kelly is a swinging pianist who is capable of backing a variety of artists, he doesn’t provide Mobley with the drive and spark he sometimes exhibited on later recordings. Still, Mobley sounds terrific on these performances, and Jones provides all the drive that’s needed, dropping bombs all over the place. Though it occupies a special place as the last of Mobley’s 1960-61 Blue Note sessions, it is not one of the essential Mobley recordings. Still, it’s impossible to say that it is in any way bad or less listenable than many of Hank’s other recordings.

After re-emerging in 1963, Mobley endured a narcotics conviction in 1964, including some prison time. When he emerged in ’65, he began to record the stream of sessions that comprised the final stylistic period of his career. He now played with a more masculine, declarative edge, and his work, like that of Coltrane, was less defined by harmonic complexity and more by a groove and static harmonic construction. Dippin’ is one of the finest Mobley recordings from the mid-60s. It features trumpeter Lee Morgan, who proves an excellent choice of musician to accompany Mobley on the front line. Pianist Harold Mabern, a Memphis musician whose work retains major elements of the blues regardless of the tune he is playing, is essential in driving Mobley forward, while bassist Larry Ridley and drummer Billy Higgins make the rhythm section sound effortless. Higgins is particularly good here, providing all kinds of shading and touches that make this performance a special one in Mobley’s discography.

Mobley’s take on the classic “Ricado Bossa Nova” is sharp and precise, and sounds like a definitive performance, so completely does the tune merge with Mobley’s tenor sound and style. Overall, Dippin’ is a very upbeat program of tunes, with only one ballad presented, the Schwartz/Dietz penned “I See Your Face Before Me.” Mobley acquits himself well, as does Morgan, playing a muted solo a la Miles that nonetheless highlights Morgan’s brighter tone and more restless improvisational style. The remaining tracks, “The Break Through,” “The Vamp,” and “Ballin’” are all Mobley originals, mostly variations on a blues progression, with twists thrown in to keep the musicians interested. There’s plenty of solid solo work from Mobley, Morgan, and Mabern to keep any listener satisfied with this recording.

Hi Voltage was recorded in 1967, and features Mobley playing with a larger group than on either of the previously discussed recordings. Blue Mitchell occupies the trumpet chair while Jackie McLean lends his bright, modern alto work to the mix. While this results in less solo time for Mobley, it also provides an opportunity for him to work up some more interesting arrangements. The rhythm section is also in high gear, with pianist John Hicks providing a bluesy base. Bob Crenshaw plays bass and the drum work is handled by an enthusiastic Billy Higgins.

The title track demonstrates the funkier type of groove that Mobley was mining at this time—virtually all of his late-60s albums feature a tune derived from Lee Morgan’s ‘Sidewinder.” All of the tunes here are Mobley originals, and the urban rush hour sound of “Two And One” shows that Mobley had made great strides toward modernizing his style and incorporating advances made by Coltrane and others into his work. His solo has some Traner qualities, even though his tone is all Mobley. On “No More Goodbyes,” the set’s only ballad, Mobley goes back to the tried and true tenor plus rhythm section formula—the only other soloist on the track is pianist Hicks. “Bossa Deluxe” also provides an opportunity for some further lyrical playing on Mobley’s part, not to mention a lovely three-horn arrangement on the head.

Mobley and Jackie McLean played opposite each other previously on Lee Morgan’s album Cornbread, and they make good bookends, Mobley with his muscular tenor sound and McLean with the bright, Bird-like alto work that was his trademark. Blue Mitchell proves an able collaborator as well, a bit more subdued than Morgan had been, but a solid match, both in tone and in ability, to the two saxophonists.

As more and more of Mobley’s work for Blue Note becomes available, his standing in the community of jazz fans and musicians has only grown, and there is no reason to think it won’t continue to do so. Check out some of his work on these reissues, and you too will be a fan of Hank Mobley.

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