Hank's new record- its own thread

[Peter Friedman]

My copy arrived yesterday.

[Dan Gould]

I'm sitting down with this later today but since no one else has taken note of it, I'll just say that the best words in Blumenthal's notes come at the end:

This collection, the first of several drawn from Cadena's Picadilly recordings, is a magnificent musical gift ...

About the only better word he could have used would have been "many" but I'll take "several" reissues like this one. Could mean that we'll be hearing the LD with Horace Silver, and the Hank with Johnny Coles. Or maybe there are a couple no one knows about.

Either way its excellent confirmation of what I was hoping for ... that there is more to come!

[Brad]

Had mine for five days now. Mobley is a revelation and Green is on top form.

Agree about Green. Always a pleasure to hear him.

[Dan Gould]

I am so glad this one lives up to (and actually surpasses) expectations. Hank if fantastic and so is Bennie. Walter Davis is just OK, I thought, but hardly detracts. What an incredible unexpected treat. If its not historic like the Bird/Diz Townhall release, its still very special, Hank at the cusp of his career and sounding so good.

[Dave James]

I am so glad this one lives up to (and actually surpasses) expectations. Hank if fantastic and so is Bennie. Walter Davis is just OK, I thought, but hardly detracts. What an incredible unexpected treat. If its not historic like the Bird/Diz Townhall release, its still very special, Hank at the cusp of his career and sounding so good.

I accept the fact that club pianos are notorious for their condition, but why is it that recording one in a live setting back then was so friggin' difficult? I think Davis would have been fine if the recording was up to snuff, but as it stands, he sounded like he was playing some broken down instrument they found in speakeasy.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Hank is quite the quote master on this live date, quoting tunes left and right in his solos, far more often than I can remember in any other recording.

And I agree on the piano sound. Poor Walter Davis Jr. It sounds like a badly tuned upright.

[Brad]

Could Davis just not have been recorded properly, as opposed to playing a poor piano.

[JSngry]

You kids today, with your fancy "venues" and pianos that people even think about taking care of. Spoiled rotten, the whole bunch of you are!

[jazzbo]

I like this one. I like Bennie's non-trombone contributions almost as much as his blowin'. . . . And I'm glad they gave the drummer some.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

re- keen & peachy by shorty rogers

is this a direct Mobley-West Coast Jazz connection-point, or what? was this song 1st done by woody herman orch.? can anyone hip me to some early west coast albums its on, what shorty solo lps is it on, if any. so, if hankenstein knew this tune, or anyone in the band for that matter, west coast jazz was somewhat known by these cats? or is this song "national" cause the woody orch. brought this music all over the country

UPDATE-

Bird played this tune in 1950 at the pershing ballroom, not that hank would know that, but yea....

Edited May 1, 2012 by chewy

[JSngry]

It's "Fine And Dandy" changes, which were pretty popular to blow on back then, so between that and Woody's version, I think it was "in the air".

[Larry Kart]

re- keen & peachy by shorty rogers

is this a direct Mobley-West Coast Jazz connection-point, or what? was this song 1st done by woody herman orch.? can anyone hip me to some early west coast albums its on, what shorty solo lps is it on, if any. so, if hankenstein knew this tune, or anyone in the band for that matter, west coast jazz was somewhat known by these cats? or is this song "national" cause the woody orch. brought this music all over the country

UPDATE-

Bird played this tune in 1950 at the pershing ballroom, not that hank would know that, but yea....

When Rogers wrote "Keen and Peachy" he was on the road with Herman and was not yet a West Coast guy, literally or in terms of the so-called West Coast "school," which at the time he wrote "Keen and Peachy" essentially did not yet exist.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

i see. still, it is a pretty cool mobley tangent. im still grouping it in w/ Hank/Julius Watkins, which is the most wcj-esque blowin' we even got from a hank-related context

[Gheorghe]

Great album, got it yesterday, listened to the first CD. Great combination of Hank with the "very very slippery Bennie Green".

Yeah, Walter Davis was unlucky, bad piano, while he´s such a great player.

But I really dug the bass solos of Jimmy Schenck, never heard about him, great bass player, similar to Tommy Potter, who also did a rare ballad solo on "Bird at Cafe Society" (Talk of the Town, if my memorie´s rite, also from a ballad medley).

Can´t wait to listen to the second set.

Yeah, Keen and Peachy has nothing to do with West Coast Ghost, it was made famous by Woody Herman and as you told, it´s based on Fine and Dandy....

I always loved Hank Mobley. He´s one of my very favourites. I must say I learned to play the piano the way I like to hear it from listenig to Hank´s lines. Without "studying it", just by listening how he treats the chord progressions, I played much better....

[danasgoodstuff]

Picked it up from my local Bricks 'n motor, Hank plays more Bird-like than anywhere else I can recall, obviously a labor of love to put this out. Bennie Green is fine, made go back to the Mosaic Select.

[Gheorghe]

Now I have listened to the second CD also. I especially liked "Pennies From Heaven" the long track, over 16 minutes. Bennie Green is great on all tunes. As "danasgoodstuff" has told, Hank is deeply influenced by Bird, something he once stated himself. On Pennies From Heaven he quotes "Without A Song" and follows with some really astonishing runs. Walter Davis also gets much space and has his unique style full developed. Influences of Bud, but it´s Walter Davis´ unique style.

Anyway, this will be one of my favourite live recordings. Hank had that Bird influenced style through most of the 50´s. He changed his style a bit during the mid 60´s.

As about Bennie Green: I recently listend to his three BN albums from the late 50´s. But I think I like his playing on this live set even more.

[johnlitweiler]

Heard half of disk 1 last night - apart from double-time passages this is among the most Prez-like Mobley. The pure melody, the ways his melody line curves, the phrase contrasts. The invention is just endless.

Even at the end in those coarse 1980s captures, for all Hank's difficulties he still had a blessed sense of melody.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

true dat, dana- prime bebop hank!

[king ubu]

Who's Dana and why does my copy take so darn long to get over the pond?!