Hank Mobley Another Workout: RVG Series CD

This is part of Blue Note's Collector's Choice series. These are limited-edition pressings of a few thousand copies.

This LP has material from 1961 that for no real reason went unreleased until 1985. One song, "Three Coins in a Fountain," is from the same session that resulted in tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley's famous Workout session with guitarist Grant Green, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The other five numbers -- three obscure Mobley originals, plus "I Should Care" and "Hello Young Lovers" -- are from the previously unheard December 5, 1961 session with the same personnel except for Green. Hank Mobley was in a prime period around this time, and all of his Blue Note recordings are well worth picking up. ~ Scott Yanow

Reviewers called tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley underrated so many times that the word may as well have been his middle name, and when combined with the numerous financial, personal, and health issues that Mobley endured during his career, it all added up to a middle of the pack position in the jazz canon. He truly deserves a reevaluation. This delightfully warm set was cut on December 5, 1961 with Mobley on tenor sax, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums, and consists of four Mobley compositions and a version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Hello Young Lovers." Mobley's measured, round sax tone binds everything together, and the ballad "I Should Care" is particularly lovely, unfolding gently and surely. Two of the other Mobley compositions, "Getting' and Jettin'" and "Hanks' Other Soul," were revisited, expanded, and arguably improved a year later as "Up a Step" and "East of the Village" respectively, making these 1961 versions essentially sketches, however well done. Although hardly flashy, Another Workout was a solid outing. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Blue Note Records failed to release it until 1985, less than a year before Mobley's death. A nuanced and often beautiful session, the album deserved better, as did Mobley, and underrated doesn't cut it any more. This guy was front-line. ~ Steve Leggett

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 26 and December 5, 1961. Includes liner notes by Michael Cuscuna.

Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.

Personnel: Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone); Hank Mobley; Paul Chambers (upright bass); Wynton Kelly (piano); Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder.

Liner Note Authors: Michael Cuscuna; Bob Blumenthal.

Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (12/05/1961).

Personnel: Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone); Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Producer: Alfred Lion.