JSngry Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Sounds like there's a story here...let The Search For Rocky Boyd begin! Quote
Pete C Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Sounds like there's a story here...let The Search For Rocky Boyd begin! Please don't let Geraldo Rivera host the special. Quote
JSngry Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Actually, Mario Rivera would have been a good choice, but he's dead now. Quote
six string Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Seeing this issue resurface put a smile on my face for some reason. Quote
peterintoronto Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Question for 'chewy': I have never known anyone so passionate about Hank Mobley as yourself. I own the majority of Mobley's Prestige and Blue Note work (as leader and sideman), and am not even 1% of the fan you are! Have you ever considered writing a biography on Hank? To the best of my knowledge, one has never been published, and you have the fire to make one happen! Quote
sonnymax Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) ...To the best of my knowledge, one has never been published... Edited January 18, 2012 by sonnymax Quote
Pete C Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 I just told a coworker that if somebody with a cursory knowledge of jazz, someone who has probably heard of Coltrane, Getz, Hawkins and Young, started reading jazz bulletin boards he'd be startled to learn that Hank Mobley was the greatest tenor player in the history of the world. Personally, I don't understand the cult of Mobley. Quote
JETman Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 I just told a coworker that if somebody with a cursory knowledge of jazz, someone who has probably heard of Coltrane, Getz, Hawkins and Young, started reading jazz bulletin boards he'd be startled to learn that Hank Mobley was the greatest tenor player in the history of the world. Personally, I don't understand the cult of Mobley. It's more the cult of Blue Note. Quote
Pete C Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 It's more the cult of Blue Note. The cult of Grachan Moncur III I could understand... Quote
Dan Gould Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 A lot of people derive great pleasure from Hank's playing. Is that really impossible to imagine? Do you find him utterly disposable? Note: I am not one of those who think he's "the greatest" but I do consider him an indispensible part of my collection. Quote
JETman Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 It's more the cult of Blue Note. The cult of Grachan Moncur III I could understand... Better yet -- the Three Sounds! Quote
JSngry Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Mobley upsets me in ways I don't understand. Quote
Shawn Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 My interest in Mobley was what drew me to the old Blue Note board in the first place, he was my doorway into the label. Why? His playing connects with me, simple as that. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 I'm not sure I 'get' the cult of Mobley, least not on a deep personal level - but the existance of it bothers me not one bit. I've got his entire Blue Note output as a leader, and probably at least 85% of his BN sideman dates (and 100% after 1960) -- and most of it is pretty darn good. FWIW, "Third Season" and "Slice of the Top" are my two favorite of his leader-dates. Now the cult of Andrew Hill, I not only 'get' that, I think I invented it. Quote
Pete C Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) Do you find him utterly disposable? Personally, yes. Maybe not disposable, but dispensable. I can name at least 50, maybe 100 tenor players I prefer. The only Mobley album I ever owned was The Turnaround, mostly for Freddie's brilliant contribution. Edited January 18, 2012 by Pete C Quote
jazzbo Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 I really like Hank Mobley and have most all his recordings. I seem to connect with him the way that I connect with Lester Young. And I feel there is a similarity between these two artists. I can go without listening to both for quite some time, and then start a binge. I've always liked the Blackhawk recordings. In fact, one of the lps was my first non-electric Miles Davis purchases way back when. Wynton, Paul and Jimmy really caught my ear, and their authoritative and yet breezy sense of swing pulled me into the music. That swing helped me to understand the music Miles and Hank were putting out. I remember fondly many hours with that wonderful cover nearby and the music playing. . . . Quote
Noj Posted January 18, 2012 Report Posted January 18, 2012 Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. I've got a bunch of the Mobley RVGs and the Mosaic, and there's something I dig on every last disc. I'm not much for ranking musicians. I ain't got the perspective. Quote
Dave James Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 Any discussion of Hank without reference to his writing, is incomplete. He was prolific and extraordinarily talented. Considering his entire body of work, I'm not sure there are many who operated at his level. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of his playing, but I'm even a bigger fan of his writing. Quote
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Posted January 19, 2012 yes u are, we all love the mobe. at times ive considered it that was a long time ago. some fiasco of a book came out which i heard was more like "the hank mobley discography: the movie", if you feel me. ive asked a lot of people about hank who knew the man and they -all- say, hank was a righteous cat. i want to write a book sill, but on a topic far more profound, even moreso than the mobe! but i dont know how to acomplish these things, i dont know how the game works. so if i write the thing, i shop it around to publishers? i have no clue Quote
sonnymax Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 It's more the cult of Blue Note. The cult of Grachan Moncur III I could understand... That's the one I can't fathom. Interesting composer, but extremely limited as an instrumentalist, imo. Quote
Pete C Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) yes u are, we all love the mobe. at times ive considered it that was a long time ago. some fiasco of a book came out which i heard was more like "the hank mobley discography: the movie", if you feel me. ive asked a lot of people about hank who knew the man and they -all- say, hank was a righteous cat. i want to write a book sill, but on a topic far more profound, even moreso than the mobe! but i dont know how to acomplish these things, i dont know how the game works. so if i write the thing, i shop it around to publishers? i have no clue If you plan on writing a book I'd suggest you do some major woodshedding. That's the one I can't fathom. Interesting composer, but extremely limited as an instrumentalist, imo. I like him well enough as a player (when he could still play), but it's his composition talent that makes him one of the undersung greats. His two albums on Blue Note and the ones with McLean (where Moncur is really the main force behind the music) are among the greatest albums of the '60s, IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if Lion and Wolff felt that he belonged in the lineage of Monk, Herbie Nichols and Andrew Hill, all of whom they were so taken with. Anyway, I must say I do find it weird that Mobley has a kind of idolatry that even Wayne Shorter can't come near touching, if we're talking Blue Note--at least as far as jazz board denizens are concerned. But yes, it's all a matter of taste. I'm a Hubbardite, and little of Lee Morgan before the bands with Harper and Maupin does much for me, which I'm sure sounds like heresy to many here. Edited January 19, 2012 by Pete C Quote
Noj Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 Pete, I'd guess this crowd ranks Shorter above Mobley as a player...in my nebulous overall impression. Quote
Shawn Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 Pete, I'd guess this crowd ranks Shorter above Mobley as a player...in my nebulous overall impression. Shorter is a more advanced player and writer, but I generally find Mobley more enjoyable and I return to his recordings more frequently. I don't rate players any longer, I came to the conclusion that it's pointless, I like who I like because I like them. Quote
jlhoots Posted January 19, 2012 Report Posted January 19, 2012 Pete, I'd guess this crowd ranks Shorter above Mobley as a player...in my nebulous overall impression. Shorter is a more advanced player and writer, but I generally find Mobley more enjoyable and I return to his recordings more frequently. I don't rate players any longer, I came to the conclusion that it's pointless, I like who I like because I like them. Right - it's all good if you like it. Simple as that for me. Quote
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