How About a Mobley 60's Box Set

[BruceH]

Good point. A few years back I asked Mosaic about a 60's Mobley box, and they said pretty much the same thing. Most or all of the stuff is in print, so there's little point. Now that's no longer true. Several of the albums have been allowed to go back out of print. However, given the economy and the fact that re-issues of all types seem to be OVER right now, I don't think it's too likely.

[Claude]

Plus, out of print and hard to find are not necessarily the same. Is there a Mobley CD which is difficult to get?

[Tom 1960]

Plus, out of print and hard to find are not necessarily the same. Is there a Mobley CD which is difficult to get?

"A Slice Of The Top" is kind of costly. I was very fortunate to pick this up recently when one of the forums members made it available in the "Offering And Looking For" section.

[mikeweil]

IIRC Mosaic early on seriously considered a box set with the four LPs from the Workout period with Wynton Kelly, but then Michael Cuscua reissued them all on individual Blue Note LPs/CDs.

Edited August 22, 2009 by mikeweil

[BruceH]

Plus, out of print and hard to find are not necessarily the same. Is there a Mobley CD which is difficult to get?

"A Slice Of The Top" is kind of costly. I was very fortunate to pick this up recently when one of the forums members made it available in the "Offering And Looking For" section.

Yes, that's the one I was going to mention. Already OOP a few years back when I started seriously looking for it. I eventually ran down a reasonably priced used copy, but it's a bit on the rare side.

[sidewinder]

IIRC Mosaic early on seriously considered a box set with the four LPs from the Workout period with Wynton Kelly, but then Michael Cuscua reissued them all on individual Blue Note LPs/CDs.

Sounds like a potential 'Mosaic Vinyl' project, if it was done as an audiophile 4LP set with a nice nifty booklet.

[colinmce]

Third Season also doesn't come cheap, though I see you can download it for 5.94 at Amazon.

[king ubu]

I caved in an ordered a copy of "A Slice Of the Top"... with BN folding down their reissue activities (or so it looks to me at least) I guess it wasn't a bad move and it was still around for less than 20$ last week. But I will likely just store it away somewhere so that the day when I hear my final new Mobley album won't take place too soon yet

[mikeweil]

That session is too good to gather dust on the shelf!

Edited August 26, 2009 by mikeweil

[Big Al]

Mobley just might be more popular than we think, if activity within this thread is any indication.

[mikeweil]

Among the members of this forum, sure, but among jazz lovers in general? Even jazz saxists over here have only cursory knowledge of Mobley's recordings.

[Big Al]

I know, just riffin' on a thread theme, that's all.

[Moko]

I'm really surprised when people say they haven't heard of Hank Mobley for gods sake he played with Miles Davis, The Jazz Messengers and if you look on a whole heap of Blue Note's if you just read the covers!

[J.A.W.]

I'm really surprised when people say they haven't heard of Hank Mobley for gods sake he played with Miles Davis, The Jazz Messengers and if you look on a whole heap of Blue Note's if you just read the covers!

Talking about the Jazz Messengers, how many people outside the jazz world do you think know Art Blakey? And some who have heard of him even think his name is "Blakeley"... And how many people do you think have jazz albums anyway, apart from the ones they think are jazz (Kenny G and Herb Alpert come to mind...)?

(edited to correct a grammatical error )

Edited August 26, 2009 by J.A.W.

[Dan Gould]

Hans, you are right in general, but we're talking about the jazz community here. And what of Mike Weil's comment that jazz saxophonists in Germany have only a "cursory" knowledge of Mobley's recordings?

I find that very curious to say the least.

[J.A.W.]

Hans, you are right in general, but we're talking about the jazz community here. And what of Mike Weil's comment that jazz saxophonists in Germany have only a "cursory" knowledge of Mobley's recordings?

I find that very curious to say the least.

Goes to show that the situation within the (international) jazz community is not much better than elsewhere

[Aggie87]

Hans, you are right in general, but we're talking about the jazz community here. And what of Mike Weil's comment that jazz saxophonists in Germany have only a "cursory" knowledge of Mobley's recordings?

I find that very curious to say the least.

Goes to show that the situation within the (international) jazz community is not much better than elsewhere

And that not all jazz must inherently spring from the U.S. blues.

I for one am glad that jazz comes in so many flavors.

[Claude]

Jazz musicians are not necessarily the most knowledgeable about jazz history. Not every musician is a record collector or reads books about the history of the music. Different priorities.

I also think that among jazz fans every musician who recorded for Blue Note gets a "legend bonus", which is not automatically the case among jazz musicians, who care less about discographical facts. If Mobley wasn't a Blue Note artist but had recorded the same music for less famous labels, maybe we wouldn't be talking about a Mosaic set.

Edited August 26, 2009 by Claude

[Niko]

I'm really surprised when people say they haven't heard of Hank Mobley for gods sake he played with Miles Davis, The Jazz Messengers and if you look on a whole heap of Blue Note's if you just read the covers!

99% certain that the guy who directed my high school big band (he was also a regular music teacher... and he was perfectly competent at both ) had never heard of mobley when i mentioned the name...

[Moko]

I think your right most musicians I've known haven't had the greatest of record collections....those who can play...play... those who can't listen & collect!

I guess I love to listen to so much music because I can't play a note and therefore it just seems like complete magic to me.

How you can rate the popularity of any given musician at a particular moment in time throughout the world must keep the guys at the labels awake at night...or maybe its a case if you build it they will come.

[mjzee]

I'm really surprised when people say they haven't heard of Hank Mobley for gods sake he played with Miles Davis, The Jazz Messengers and if you look on a whole heap of Blue Note's if you just read the covers!

Talking about the Jazz Messengers, how many people outside the jazz world do you think know Art Blakey? And some who have heard of him even think his name is "Blakeley"... And how many people do you think have jazz albums anyway, apart from the ones they think is jazz (Kenny G and Herb Alpert come to mind...)?

When I was younger, I worked in a jazz record store. There were many long-time jazz fans who mispronounced Blakey as Blakeley (and Maxell tapes as Maxwell). Didn't matter; these were sincere jazz fans.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

oihnly if its in MONO

why are the mono tapes just rotting there-- just rotting

[mikeweil]

... given they were not disposed of at some point ...

[mikeweil]

99% certain that the guy who directed my high school big band (he was also a regular music teacher... and he was perfectly competent at both ) had never heard of Mobley when i mentioned the name...

The saxist I play with - a great guy and player and teacher - knows Mobley, but I don't think he has one of his records. Simply too much music out there, the curriculum focusses on other players, and his personal models are other players with an edgier sound. On tenor, he favors Brecker for his sound, like most of his generation.

Edited August 29, 2009 by mikeweil

[Niko]

99% certain that the guy who directed my high school big band (he was also a regular music teacher... and he was perfectly competent at both ) had never heard of Mobley when i mentioned the name...

The saxist I play with - a great guy and player and teacher - knows Mobley, but I don't think he has one of his records. Simply too much music out there, the curriculum focusses on other players, and his personal models are other players with an edgier sound. On tenor, he favors Brecker for his sound, like most of his generation.

my teacher's favorites were doldinger and bob mintzer iirc... (for my saxophone teacher on the other hand, the basics of learning to play tenor were hank mobley and dexter gordon ... took me a few years to realize that he was quite remarkable (non-mainstream in a good way) in that respect)

Edited August 29, 2009 by Niko