Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley and His All Stars (1967 US Blue Note Vinyl LP)

Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley and His All Stars | Vinyl LP - 1967 Japanese Blue Note Stereo Reissue (BST 81544, US-pressed disc with Japanese insert)

• A Jazz Messengers session in all but name, with Milt Jackson added on vibraphone, Mobley’s tenor joined by Horace Silver, Doug Watkins and Art Blakey in five all-Mobley compositions
• Jackson is the difference, his vibraphone bringing a melodic warmth and rhythmic clarity to the quintet that transforms what could have been a routine hard bop blowing session
• Japanese release with US-pressed disc and cover, distributed by Toshiba Musical Industries, with obi (missing) and Japanese insert including liner notes by Isono Teruo alongside Leonard Feather’s originals

Leonard Feather noted in his original liner notes that Hank Mobley turned up at Blue Note almost as regularly as the mailman. By January 1957, when this session was recorded at Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio, Mobley was already deep into a run of Blue Note dates that would produce ten albums across three years. The rhythm section here was his own group: Silver, Watkins and Blakey had all played with Mobley in the Jazz Messengers, and the rapport between them needed no rehearsal. The difference is Milt Jackson. His vibraphone sits between Mobley’s tenor and Silver’s piano in a way that opens the quintet up, adding a ringing sustain and a melodic precision that the usual trumpet-and-tenor front line would not have provided. “Reunion” opens with Jackson and Mobley stating the theme in unison before separating into solo territory, and Jackson’s vibraphone work across all five tracks is what the Mosaic Records box set notes called the reason this is one of Mobley’s early triumphs.

“Ultramarine” follows with a slightly slower groove, Silver’s comping dropping into the blues while Watkins walks underneath. “Don’t Walk” is the most rhythmically insistent piece on Side A, Blakey pushing the tempo from behind. Side B carries three tracks. “Lower Stratosphere” gives Jackson his most extended solo, his mallet work fluid and unhurried over Blakey’s ride cymbal. “Mobley’s Musings” closes the album with Mobley at his most reflective, his tone warm and rounded in a way that rewards repeated listening. All five compositions are Mobley’s, and the writing suits the instrumentation: the melodies give Jackson room to sustain notes where a trumpet player would have moved on, and the harmonies are open enough for Silver to add colour without cluttering the ensemble. Produced by Alfred Lion, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder. This is the 1967 Japanese stereo reissue (BST 81544), released with a US-pressed disc and cover and distributed in Japan by Toshiba Musical Industries with obi (missing) and Japanese insert. Reid Miles cover design, Francis Wolff photography.