Miles Davis Complete Blackhawk

[Homefromtheforest]

I enjoy it; it's jazzy.

[JSngry]

What percentage of the work Hank Mobley did under his own name for BN could be characterized as "high level coasting"?  Pretty high, I think.

You're on your own with that one.

Post-Dippin' Hank is still not universally embraced, but for my money, the psychodramas alone disqualify it as any kind of coasting. Lots of reduction and repetition, and more of it with each passing year, but when he sounds like he's about to fall over or have his head explode (and it's always the possibility of one or the other, never of both), he commands my fullest attention.

[felser]

I agree with JSngry's "high level coasting" description.  I don't view this as a negative characterization.  Certainly, there are plenty of well-regarded jazz albums from the "golden age" that also fit under that moniker.

I guess the 'Four and More' and 'My Funny Valentine' albums with Coleman/Hancock/Carter/Williams probably fit the same description, but I've always loved those albums, and like the Black Hawk albums fine.

[Guy Berger]

What percentage of the work Hank Mobley did under his own name for BN could be characterized as "high level coasting"?  Pretty high, I think.

You're on your own with that one.

Post-Dippin' Hank is still not universally embraced, but for my money, the psychodramas alone disqualify it as any kind of coasting. Lots of reduction and repetition, and more of it with each passing year, but when he sounds like he's about to fall over or have his head explode (and it's always the possibility of one or the other, never of both), he commands my fullest attention.

Ha.  Well, thinking that A Caddy for Daddy and Dippin and The Turnaround were probably "just another day in the office" has not interfered with me enjoying them tremendously.  

[erwbol]

The worst thing I can say about the Blackhawk recordings and the talk in the press about Miles dissing Hank is that it kept me from exploring Mobley's early 60s Blue Note masterpieces for some years.

[David Ayers]

I had the lps - though weirdly I can't remember handling them - and though I was never that enthused I replaced them with the cd set. I think the lps with solos edited out and a restricted selection of tracks were a better proposition. More is not better in this case. 

[CJ Shearn]

I like the set a lot

[jazzbo]

Me too. Just music that has grown on me through the decades, comfort food music.

[Gheorghe]

On ‎28‎.‎10‎.‎2015‎ ‎17‎:‎25‎:‎42, Steve Gray said:

In my opinion that is very harsh on Someday My Prince Will Come.

well I agree with you: Someday My Prince Will Come is great, the Carnegie Hall stuff is great, but I´m not so fond about most of the live stuff from the early 60s. IMHO, of course besides really important stuff like the example you gave, it was more a period of transition, when Miles maybe became bored with what he was doing and trying to find something new, which finally happened when he got Tony Williams etc. ......

[Brad]

What's not to like? I enjoy it quite a bit as I do with Carnegie Hall.

[Late]

Listening to this set right now. Good with a martini. This date could have been a quartet session (ouch!). Mobley plays just fine, perhaps above fine, but I think Miles is the one that really steps it up — you can hear quite a bit of experimenting with lip-slurring and bending/half-valving notes; his chops were in good shape. The club vibe is infectious.

[Guy Berger]

2 hours ago, Late said:

Listening to this set right now. Good with a martini. This date could have been a quartet session (ouch!). Mobley plays just fine, perhaps above fine, but I think Miles is the one that really steps it up — you can hear quite a bit of experimenting with lip-slurring and bending/half-valving notes; his chops were in good shape. The club vibe is infectious.

Not totally unfair.  I think I like it better having Mobley present rather than not, but he certainly isn't the highlight - nor is it among the highlights of his career.

And yeah - I think it's interesting to detect the roots of MD's mid- and late-60s playing in these recordings.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Guy Berger