Dec 2003 RVG Of The Month

[Soulstation1]

one of my fav cds.

i let a friend named hank borrow the cd and he said it was just "alright"...

what was he thinking, i told him it's one of my favs.

the remastering on this cd is top notch in my books.

any fav songs or fav solos?

ss1

[BruceH]

My first Hank Mobley record, and still one of my favorites. I have to admit, though, that for years despite playing it over and over, I categorized it as "just another" Blue Note album. At some point, 'round about getting a second and third album by Mobley, something clicked with me, and I went back, dug out Soul Station, and thought it was one of the best albums I'd ever heard. It happens like that sometimes. Takes you a while to realized what you've got. There's a sort of relaxed elegance to his phrasing and tone here that just sends me...if Mozart played jazz tenor, it would be like this.

[couw]

I went another route than Bruce; only after listening to this album I finally got what all the hype was about. Before that I had categorised Hank as yet another merely good tenor player who didn't play anything special. Soulstation changed that. Great album by a great player.

[wolff]

Quite often friends/relatives ask me to burn them a couple jazz CD's. Out of 1200 to choose from "Soul Station" is always in the top ten.

This album grabs my attention and holds it.

[Uncle Skid]

  wolff said:

This album grabs my attention and holds it.

That's probably the thing that strikes me the most about this album -- it's overall consistency. Every track is great, and there seems to be a cohesiveness about it as a whole, from start to finish. Plus, it sure does *swing*.

In reminds me of when rock albums were similiarly structured; meant to be listened to as a whole, rather than just individual tracks that are isolated and sometimes substantially different than the rest of the recording.

When I was first getting into jazz, this recording was the first one that I *really* enjoyed, in contrast to my first listenings of other, more well-known titles.

It's probably heresy to say so, but in many ways, I think this record is better listening for jazz newbies than Kind of Blue. It's probably not as subtle or historically important as KOB, but I'd bet it has created a whole bunch of new jazz fans over the years.

[Jazzmoose]

Huh...did I see this before and just miss it? I must have, because for some strange reason I pulled out this disc and gave it a spin this week. I hadn't heard it in months and had forgotten how good it was. Sometimes, in the rush and excitement to hear new things, I forget about the music that first got me hooked. Excellent stuff, and the title track is one of those tunes that always seems to pop up in my brain...

[catesta]

I plan on spinning this one later today.

[Soulstation1]

i listened to this the other day about 5 times

wynton plays his ass off on this cd

the first 40 seconds on "dig dis"

i wonder if kelly got the intro idea from bobby timmons?

ss1

Edited November 12, 2004 by Soulstation1

[Soulstation1]

what brought my attention to this cd was not hank, but chambers, kelly and blakey

ss1

Edited November 10, 2004 by Soulstation1

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I've been listening to my mini-disc of this paired w/ the "Another Workout" in the car just this past week. Must have been something subliminal going on w/ the November BN calendar and Bresnahan's avatar.

[pryan]

Anytime I put this album on it brings a smile to my face. The quartet that assembled that day was playing as a unit, something that doesn't/didn't always happen when you put 4 All-Stars together. Simply beautiful from start to finish. Everyone plays their ass off. Solos are first-rate, original compositions are of a similar high quality. One for the ages.

[Soulstation1]

i still haven't heard "Another Workout"

[Shawn]

One of my favorite albums as well. As has been mentioned by others, it took awhile for this album to really work it's magic on me. I picked this up pretty early in my hurried, jazz obsessed quest to rack up as much credit card debt as possible, buying every conceivable CD I could lay my lusty little paws on. Ahem...back to what I was saying. Anyway, this was just another CD I popped into the changer, listened to once, didn't really hit me and then I was off to the next disc.

Well at some point a few months later I got a sudden impulse to buy the Mobley Mosaic set...even though I really wasn't familiar with him, I saw the various lineups on the set and decided to give it a shot. Well I truly fell in love with Hank listening to those mid-50's recordings and it wasn't too long before I went grabbing for Soul Station to give it another listen.

To say that I was floored is a total understatement. I think I listened to this album about 3 times in a row that evening, studying every little detail. I'm in total agreement with Lon, that Remember is one of the most enjoyable performances ever. The amazing groove that starts from the first note is sheer perfection. Mobley at his most lyrical...he just sits himself down on the couch beside you and spins one beautiful tale.

It's amazing that with a start like that the album continues to equal it track after track without a single low point. This is really an "album", a wonderfully played & sequenced date that really deserves to be placed in the upper echelon of Blue Note releases.

One of the greatest joys though, is to hear Mobley & Kelly work together. I'm convinced they were one of the best combinations in jazz history. They were completely telepathic in their communication with each other, as they are on all the albums they recorded together. But this one really stands out (along with Workout) as the prime example of their partnership.

Going to have to go grab this from the rack and spin it before I go to sleep.....

[pryan]

Funny you mention the 50s Mobley set, Shawn. I have a feeling I'll be getting that from "Santa" this X-Mas.

[Soulstation1]

the mobley mosaic was my first set

the sound on this cd is clear, rvg has everyone sounding really clean

i have ss going now

"this i dig of you"

ss1

[DrJ]

This is one of those perfect, "everything was completely realized" albums. Many of Mobley's other dates I find just as outstanding in a different way - more highs and lows, going a little further outside the comfort zone, etc - but SOUL STATION is just a little self-contained bit of perfection. They all lock in to that early 60s hard bop groove and never let go, not even for a minute.

Speaking of which, I'd be surprised if we don't someday see a Mosaic Select of the Mobley/Kelly 60's sessions given that ANOTHER WORKOUT has been off the market and doesn't seem a likely candidate for the RVG series (maybe a Conn I guess).