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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMOBLEY, Hank(b 7 July '30, Eastman GA; d 30 May '86, Philadelphia) Tenor sax. Grew up in New Jersey; began in R&B with Paul Gayten '50; worked with Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, then Horace Silver '54, the group which became the Jazz Messengers led by Art Blakey, leaving with Silver '56 but returning to Blakey '59, then to Miles Davis early '60s. His unspectacular but subtle, solid, and swinging post-bop tenor was a favourite with many jazz fans, yet curiously underrated by critics and the general public, until lung problems forced him to slow down in the '70s. First LP as leader was Hank Mobley Quartet '55 on Blue Note, with Blakey, Silver and Doug Watkins on bass; then three on Savoy '55--6; Prestige sessions '56 reissued as two-disc Messages. Seven LPs' worth of material on Blue Note '56--8 incl. two unissued sessions; he also made Blowing Session '57 on Blue Note with John Coltrane and Johnny Griffin, Tenor Conclave on Prestige, etc; live Monday Night At Birdland '58 was a septet gig on Roulette; the rest were all on Blue Note: Peckin' Time '58, Soul Station and Roll Call '60 (both with Blakey), Workout and Another Workout '61 (the latter not issued until '85) all incl. Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers, stablemates in the Davis band, and are among his finest. Twelve more on Blue Note '63--70, all with fine sidemen, incl. High Voltage with Blue Mitchell and Jackie McLean and others, and Far Away Lands, with Cedar Walton, Donald Byrd, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins, both '67. His work will be reissued again and again; Mobley was one of those who defined the mainstream jazz of the era. |