AotW - Hank Mobley - Soul Station

[BruceH]

For me, Soul Station is more like "Album of the Quarter Century."

Got it as a vinyl reissue back in the 80s. Back then I just played it a few times and filed it away. A good solid second-tier hard-bop album, I thought, nothing world-shaking. But two or three years later I dug it out and kept playing it more. I would go through cycles of playing it a lot, and each go 'round it seemed to get better. Eventually, during the 90's, I started collecting every Mobley session (both as leader and sideman) that I could find. But it all started with Soul Station. I've recommended it to countless people (along with Workout) as one of the ideal places to start with Mobley. Still one of my favorite Mobley albums, too.

So for those, like Shawn, who say that it took a while for the album to sink in for them, well, I can really relate to that. It's one of those albums that sneaks up on you.

[sidewinder]

[i guess I need to get Dippin', huh?

Definitely. Nothing profound on there but it has a very nice groove. 'Recado Bossa Nova' etc. A fiery but relaxed session.

Don't miss 'The Turnaround' either. Strangely under-rated that one - although 'the book' rates it highly.

[BillF]

I find his tone a little too woolly for extended listening

Try his mid- and later-sixties albums (The Turnaround, No Room For Squres, Dippin', A Caddy For Daddy, High Voltage, Far Away Lands), where he uses a harder tone (as well as more economical phrasing).

[michel1969]

I thought you were a professor.

Yes. I was a passenger. They played Recado Bossa Nova in the plane, as a relaxing music while take off.

[WorldB3]

I listened to this again for the first time in several years and it sounded as great as I remembered. Its pretty much a perfect record. Mobley is so fluid on this and what can you say about Wynton Kelly? It doesn't get any better then This I Dig Of You and Dig Dis. If you wanted to introduced somebody to a very early 1960's Blue Note session this would be a great pick.

While Soul Station is one of the great records of all time its still not my favorite Mobley. That would go to No Room For Squares, not saying its better but I feel the song writing is a little more challenging and it has Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock and I love Andrew Hill's playing on it. Philly Joe Jones puts on a drum clinic.

Again you can't go wrong with Soul Station. Its so good I might even upgrade to the RVG edition of it.

Edited April 3, 2008 by WorldB3

[Jams_Runt]

I've listened to this album again a few times since I saw this was going to be an album of the week, and I certainly do not get the "Trane was alright, but he was no Hank Mobley" thing. SOUL STATION seems like a great blowing session, but certainly no desert island disc. Kelly and Bu sound like the real heroes here. I prefer ROLL CALL as Hubbard's on fire on that one. Sangry has me wanting to check out DIPPIN', but his posts always make me want to spend more money.

[John Tapscott]

Pulling SS from my shelf also gave me an excuse to listen to perhaps my favorite Mobley disc (not saying it's the best, mind you, but it's a real good one), namely, "Far Away Lands" from '67 with Byrd, Walton, Carter and Higgins. A touch of soul here and there, a couple of minor keys, but overall this recording is a real uplift. Hank sounds very good and happy on the disc (4 of the comps are his; one by Byrd; another by Jimmy Heath). The rhythm is excellent, esp. Higgins. To be honest, this is not only one of my favorite Mobley recordings, it's one of my favorite hard bop records, period. A bit overlooked perhaps, but definitely deserving of RVG treatment.

[Shawn]

I'm a big fan of A Caddy For Daddy. That's one seriously tight record. The Morning After is one of my favorite Mobley compositions and Shorter's Venus Di Mildew is given a great read. I still think this should be remastered and include the 3 songs from Straight No Filter (with essentially the same band) as bonus tracks.

Great cover too...

[Peter Friedman]

Soul Station is a damn fine album. But I like just about everything by Mobley, so it would be awfully difficult to select only one to be my favorite.

Workout has been mentioned a number of times in this thread, but not Another Workout which I also like.

I have a very warm feelings for Peckin" Time with Lee Morgan and love his playing With Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and with Horace Silver.

In fact the Jazz Messengers at Cafe Bohemia sessions with Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins and Blakey continue to thrill me even after hearing them since they were first issued more than 50 years ago.

[sidewinder]

Pulling SS from my shelf also gave me an excuse to listen to perhaps my favorite Mobley disc (not saying it's the best, mind you, but it's a real good one), namely, "Far Away Lands" from '67 with Byrd, Walton, Carter and Higgins.

Second the on 'Far Away Lands' - it's a good one. Love the way that Mobley comes out of the blocks in his solo on the first track - 'A Dab Of This And That'. Like he really means business.

[BillF]

I find his tone a little too woolly for extended listening

Try his mid- and later-sixties albums (The Turnaround, No Room For Squres, Dippin', A Caddy For Daddy, High Voltage, Far Away Lands), where he uses a harder tone (as well as more economical phrasing).

Thanks for the recommendations Bill, I probably will.

I heard Mobley play in our home city, Richard, in the late sixties at a club owned by Manchester jazz promoter, Ernie Garside, which stood near the site of the present Shude Hill Metro station. Hank was accompanied by a local trio led by the very talented bop pianist, Joe Palin (recently passed away), who chose not to make it on the national scene. What I remember was the staggering beauty of Hank's tenor sound, something of which seemed to go all the way back to Lester. He was clearly high, giggled a lot and wouldn't stop playing in the interval when the trio went for a break. Records were put on, but he just kept on blowing along with them!

[Big Al]

I'm a big fan of A Caddy For Daddy. That's one seriously tight record. The Morning After is one of my favorite Mobley compositions and Shorter's Venus Di Mildew is given a great read. I still think this should be remastered and include the 3 songs from Straight No Filter (with essentially the same band) as bonus tracks.

Which three songs?

Y'know, try as I might, this is the one Mobley album I've never been able to get into.

[Shawn]

I'm a big fan of A Caddy For Daddy. That's one seriously tight record. The Morning After is one of my favorite Mobley compositions and Shorter's Venus Di Mildew is given a great read. I still think this should be remastered and include the 3 songs from Straight No Filter (with essentially the same band) as bonus tracks.

Which three songs?

Y'know, try as I might, this is the one Mobley album I've never been able to get into.

The first 3 tracks on Straight No Filter were recorded with the same band (minus Fuller) the following June. Since the session only yielded those 3 songs I think they fit nicely with Caddy.

[reg]

I'm a big Hank fan but can think of plenty of other albums by him that I listen to more. don't know why. like workout much better

how do people think Soul Station compares to other tenor led bluenote albums around that time.

I'm thinking mainly of Dexter Gordon's Go and Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental ?

[Big Al]

how do people think Soul Station compares to other tenor led bluenote albums around that time.

I'm thinking mainly of Dexter Gordon's Go and Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental ?

As for me, I'll take SS any day of the week over the other two. (But then, I prefer A Swingin' Affair over Go, too)

[Shawn]

how do people think Soul Station compares to other tenor led bluenote albums around that time.

I'm thinking mainly of Dexter Gordon's Go and Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental ?

As for me, I'll take SS any day of the week over the other two. (But then, I prefer A Swingin' Affair over Go, too)

I would rate it about dead even with Blue & Sentimental (which I consider a classic)...Go wouldn't be my choice for Dexter, for that I think I'd go with Dexter Calling.

[reg]

I would rate it about dead even with Blue & Sentimental (which I consider a classic)...

definitely agree with that. Ike sounds fantastic on this to me

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

how do people think Soul Station compares to other tenor led bluenote albums around that time.

I'm thinking mainly of Dexter Gordon's Go and Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental ?

Interesting question. I had a shufti at the old BN catalogue & discog. "Blue & sentimental" was recorded nearly two years after "Soul station"; "Go" eight months later than that. There WEREN'T any BN tenor-led albums around that time. The nearest issue before "Soul Station" was Rollins' "Newk's time" (4001) but that was recorded in 1957, as was "Blue train", BN's previous tenor-led album. Next after the Mobley album were Turrentine's "Look out" and "Blue hour", recorded about four months later, as was Tina Brooks' "True blue".

What BN was doing between 1957 and early 1960 was mainly recording Jimmy Smith, Lee Morgan, Blakey, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver & Jackie McLean (and there was an unreleased Tina Brooks - "Minor move"). Somebody woke them up; perhaps it was Hank; more likely it was Ike Quebec, who started doing some supervision work for BN in this period.

MG

[Shawn]

Look Out is another album I consider a classic.

One of the reasons I love Soul Station so much is because it's a quartet date. 3 of my favorite Mobley albums are his debut, Soul Station & Another Workout. In fact I wish he had recorded many more albums as the only horn player. Of course the albums he recorded with more horns tend to be a little more intense...but Hank had such a magnificent tone that it's nice to just be able to focus on him.

[BruceH]

how do people think Soul Station compares to other tenor led bluenote albums around that time.

I'm thinking mainly of Dexter Gordon's Go and Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental ?

As for me, I'll take SS any day of the week over the other two. (But then, I prefer A Swingin' Affair over Go, too)

I'm just the opposite as far as that goes---never could dig Affair as much as Go, which is a little puzzling, but there it is. SS and Go: It's apples & oranges time for me; love them both in different ways even though they are both 'tenor albums.' Blue and Sentimental is a grapefruit.

Interesting question. I had a shufti at the old BN catalogue & discog. "Blue & sentimental" was recorded nearly two years after "Soul station"; "Go" eight months later than that. There WEREN'T any BN tenor-led albums around that time. The nearest issue before "Soul Station" was Rollins' "Newk's time" (4001) but that was recorded in 1957, as was "Blue train", BN's previous tenor-led album. Next after the Mobley album were Turrentine's "Look out" and "Blue hour", recorded about four months later, as was Tina Brooks' "True blue".

What BN was doing between 1957 and early 1960 was mainly recording Jimmy Smith, Lee Morgan, Blakey, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver & Jackie McLean (and there was an unreleased Tina Brooks - "Minor move"). Somebody woke them up; perhaps it was Hank; more likely it was Ike Quebec, who started doing some supervision work for BN in this period.

Interesting observation. I agree that it was most probably Ike Quebec who did the work of Blue Note rousing.

[Big Al]

how do people think Soul Station compares to other tenor led bluenote albums around that time.

I'm thinking mainly of Dexter Gordon's Go and Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental ?

As for me, I'll take SS any day of the week over the other two. (But then, I prefer A Swingin' Affair over Go, too)

I'm just the opposite as far as that goes---never could dig Affair as much as Go, which is a little puzzling, but there it is. SS and Go: It's apples & oranges time for me; love them both in different ways even though they are both 'tenor albums.'

I guess it's a credit/testament to the players that, even though the lineup is the same, they managed to make two completely different albums.

[clifford_thornton]

Don't miss 'The Turnaround' either. Strangely under-rated that one - although 'the book' rates it highly.

Yeah, I like that one quite a bit. Although the best version of the title tune I know was done by BJP. Let 'Em Roll is probably one of my top "straight-ahead" albums, but I digress.

[clifford_thornton]

Interesting observation. I agree that it was most probably Ike Quebec who did the work of Blue Note rousing.

When did Pearson take that gig? Right after Que died? Or...?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Interesting observation. I agree that it was most probably Ike Quebec who did the work of Blue Note rousing.

When did Pearson take that gig? Right after Que died? Or...?

Pretty well, I think. Michael Csucuna, in the intro to the BN discography, says: "Duke Pearson, already a BN recording artist, then took over Ike's duties..."

MG

[sidewinder]

I heard Mobley play in our home city, Richard, in the late sixties at a club owned by Manchester jazz promoter, Ernie Garside, which stood near the site of the present Shude Hill Metro station. Hank was accompanied by a local trio led by the very talented bop pianist, Joe Palin (recently passed away), who chose not to make it on the national scene. What I remember was the staggering beauty of Hank's tenor sound, something of which seemed to go all the way back to Lester. He was clearly high, giggled a lot and wouldn't stop playing in the interval when the trio went for a break. Records were put on, but he just kept on blowing along with them!

The new book mentions this gig - presumably at "Club 54" in 1968. Arranged by Pete King of Ronnie Scotts' Productions after Mobley's residency there.