Hank Mobley Photo

[Dan Gould]

After a ridiculous number of problems, I've finally got an uploadable scan of the Mobley photo. Its not the best, but it will have to do.

For those unfamiliar with it from when it was posted on the BNBB, here's the story:

The date was March 22, 1980. Steeplechase Records was considering giving Hank a recording date, so he was invited to sit in with the Tete Montoliu Trio. The audition didn't go too well-Hank had lung problems pretty much throughout the '70s and nothing came of it. Nothing was put out originally, but when the date, I Want To Talk About You, came out on CD, Steeplechase added the one usable track, "Autumn Leaves."

This picture was on the back of the CD insert. To me, Hank looks like a shell of his former self, like he had a very rough time of it in the seventies and it had aged him markedly. There's also something somehow sad in his eyes-at least the way I see it.

If anyone wants to see a better scan and can handle a 1 mb e-mail attachment as a .BMP file, let me know and I can e-mail from work (hotmail won't let me send a file that size, no way no how.)

Edited December 5, 2003 by Dan Gould

[Chuck Nessa]

As I said in the other thread, I have two 8x10s of Hank taken at this date. His hair is gray, but he does not look like a "broken man" in those shots. I did some work for SteepleChase at the time (set up and ran their US office). I think this was just an unfortunate choice of photos for the cd package.

[Rooster_Ties]

Any way you could see fit to share those photos with us, Chuck?? I'm guessing probably not, if they are otherwise unpublished - and perhaps there's some concern about copyright. Or maybe just for other reasons.

Still, I'm sure many of us would love to see them.

[Soul Stream]

Even before I read Chuck's post, I thought you might be reading too much into this picture. To me, it just looks like he's gotten grey. Not beaten or broken. Plus, this is just a plain, unflattering picture. The kind that the majority of pictures taken are! Remember, we're used to seeing Hank through the lens of Francis Wolff's fabulous camerawork. Wolff could make any of us looking intriguing (maybe)! But Mobley's youthful, vibrant image is etched in stone from those Wolff shots.

If this era Hank were photographed by Wolf at RVG's studio in the classic style, I doubt we'd have such a sad reaction.

[Jim Alfredson]

Speaking of horrible album covers, has anyone seen this one before? Great album, but Joe looks like he just got back from an all night bender!!!! His eyes are even bloodshot!

[Brad]

Soul Stream captured the essence of that prior BNBB thread in a nutshell. There was much debate about what or what we could not read into it. I don't recall if there was ever a general consensus about it. My feeling was that it didn't present a good picture of Hank's state of health at the time and in about 7 years he would be dead.

[Jazz Groove]

I was reading towards the end of the 1970's Hank's doctors advised him to stop playing. His lungs were pretty much shot by this time. But he kept playing in Philadelphia where he was living at the time. The article went on to say, this sped up his demise.

I believe this was also the same problem with Louie Armstrong. His doctors wanted him to stop, but he kepon playing. I guess dying doing what you love is the way to go.

[JSngry]

The essence of the photo might be debatable, but the essence of the performance isn't. "Autumn Leaves" is all I've heard, but it is haunting in the extreme. Hank's tenor sounds like a bari in spots, and what I hear as the "passive-agressive" nature of his later recordings is to the fore here - imagine the highwire tension of the BREAKTHROUGH album filtered through several years of long intervals of musical inactivity and physical/mental neglect, and that'll give you the picture.

Not an easy listen, but a damn compelling one.

[Chuck Nessa]

Any way you could see fit to share those photos with us, Chuck?? I'm guessing probably not, if they are otherwise unpublished - and perhaps there's some concern about copyright. Or maybe just for other reasons.

Still, I'm sure many of us would love to see them.

I'm afraid I won't post these for copyright reasons. They belong to Nils Winther. Come to my place and I'll show 'em to you.

[Dan Gould]

How about an artist's rendering, Chuck?

[catesta]

I can hear it now.

BTW Chuck, that was your 1000th post!

Have one on me.

Edited December 5, 2003 by catesta

[king ubu]

few things in the world as good as this one...

ubu

[Man with the Golden Arm]

b3er...too bad that denon didn't have some photoshop back then...but Joe's teeth are whiter than that perfectly starched shirt. Joe was not on last legs then and I think that might be just the way he looked.

McDuff and the boys are really something on that one. Essential!!

[Nate Dorward]

Talking about ghastly choices of photos for a Steeplechase session, try the shots inside the booklet for Blues for a Reason by Chet Baker & Warne Marsh (both nearing the ends of their lives).

[Clunky]

Blues for a Reason by Chet Baker & Warne Marsh (

How is this one ?

[Jazzmoose]

Maybe it's just me, but most photos I've seen of Chet Baker seem pretty ghastly...

[mikeweil]

I was reading towards the end of the 1970's Hank's doctors advised him to stop playing. His lungs were pretty much shot by this time. But he kept playing in Philadelphia where he was living at the time. The article went on to say, this sped up his demise.

I read a story he had two (the better) of his three tenors stolen and the one left was leaky, which didn't help his lung problems ...

[wesbed]

After making a couple of requests for this picture, here, I lost track of the thread.

I found that Dan was able to post the Mobley picture in THIS thread, back in early December.

Somehow I missed the December post and stumbled across the picture just tonight, in April. It's amazing what one can find, sometimes, when scanning through old threads.

Thanks, Dan. The picture is not the vibrant Mobley of earlier days, but not as bad as I'd anticipated either. I agree that it's difficult to imagine Mobley in anything but his youthful state as shown in so many Francis Wolff photographs.

Edited April 19, 2004 by wesbed

[sidewinder]

With his lungs pretty well shot its amazing that Mobley kept on playing as late as he did. I remember seeing lineup details for a Northsea festival in the early 80s and I have the feeling that the 'Hank Mobley Quartet' was listed. I think the listing was in Jazz Journal, I'll have to check it out. The next mention I heard of Hank before his death was his audience appearance at Town Hall as part of the Blue Note festivities. I suspect that the Northsea appearance must have been canned.

Edited July 25, 2004 by sidewinder

[JSngry]

The next mention I heard of Hank before his death was his audience appearance at Town Hall as part of the Blue Note festivities. I suspect that the Northsea appearance must have been canned.

Don't remember the specifics, but a posthumous appreciation of Mobley in MUSICIAN magazine mentioned that Hank had been tentively scheduled to play at the BN concert, but he showed up in a bright orange(?) leisure suit and was in "no condition to play" (or words to that effect).

Sad, but that's the way it went....

[rockefeller center]

I remember seeing lineup details for a Northsea festival in the early 80s and I have the feeling that the 'Hank Mobley Quartet' was listed. I think the listing was in Jazz Journal, I'll have to check it out.

The NSJF site has now time tables in its archive:

http://www.northseajazz.nl/nsj356.en.html

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Great resource! Getting to the point of the Montreux database.

Now if they'd only include all the personnel from the groups. (Montreux has setlists too, but I don't want to be greedy.)

Mike