Hank Mobley With Art Blakey, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers – Soul Station CD

Hank Mobley was Blue Note Records' most prolific artist, with over thirty albums released under his own name, countless sessions as a sideman, and—according to his own telling in a rare interview shortly before he died—a number of recorded sessions that weren't released during his lifetime. Mobley was a bread-and-butter musician for the label: rarely at the creative cutting edge, but always a consistently consummate craftsman making brilliant records.

Among his many albums, a few from 1960 and 1961 are often cited among Mobley's finest—Workout, Roll Call, both from 1961, and the subject of this review, Soul Station. A quartet with Wynton Kelly on piano, Art Blakey on drums, and the ubiquitous Paul Chambers on bass, Soul Station is a generally up-tempo yet relaxed gig that's heavy on blues. Almost every track is now a staple of jazz repertoire.

One element that stands out on this record is the rhythm. There's a consistent, insistent, smooth-rolling quality to every track. Even the hardest driving number, "This I Dig Of You," has a certain flow to it, except the passage where Blakey takes his most aggressive solo with a hi-hat beat that's as rock solid as the speed of a Technics 1200, enveloped in the Master's all-hell-has-broken-loose polyrhythms.

The opening number, "Remember," swings on a simple melody played through once on the horn before Mobley takes off into his improvisation—staying close at first, then gradually broadening his extemporization with some modestly angular runs before abruptly handing it off to Kelly. Kelly's work here is solid if understated, also staying close to the melody, but played with unerring verve. There's nothing especially innovative or even all that dramatic about the track except it's so perfectly crafted that it's utterly compelling. "Remember" is not a tune that hits you over the head with flashy composition or performance intensity, ala "Blue Trane"—that just wasn't Mobley's way—but it is an exceptionally well-crafted piece of music. The same could be said for every track on this record.

Label: Blue Note ‎– 7243 4 95343 2 2 (RVG Edition)

Country: Europe

Media Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
Sleeve Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)

Matrix / Runout: EMI UDEN 4953432 @ 2 020107 - NL. Mould SID Code: AAH86. Plays great with only a few superficial marks.