Hank Mobley

Hank Mobley于1930年7月7日出生在伊士曼。受到家人的影響，Hank Mobley幼年時就開始學習鋼琴。在他16歲的時候，他放棄鋼琴改學薩克斯。開始他在風格造型上向Lester Young，Charlie Parker，Dexter Gordon，Don Byas，和Sonny Stitt學習。在1951年，在紐瓦克夜總會，他加入了the house band 。1975年，迫于健康問題，他退出樂壇在費城定居。
 
Hank Mobley被爵士樂評人費德稱為「次高音薩克斯風界的中量級冠軍」，言下之意是說他的音色沒那么前衛(wèi)，但卻也沒有那麼抒情。他的音色總是很圓渾，比較重細節(jié)，而不強調(diào)太多的情感流露。他的演出總是很有內(nèi)容，從來不會流于漫不經(jīng)心，精細的節(jié)奏變化，常能從其獨奏中流泄出來，而且總是很精確。他在爵士使者的時代，是引領硬咆勃時代到來的關鍵人物，讓那種既復雜又很有靈魂特質(zhì),帶著一種風塵味的搖擺樂來到人間。
 
by Steve Huey
One of the Blue Note labels definitive hard bop artists, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley remains somewhat underappreciated for his straightforward, swinging style. Any characterization of Mobley invariably begins with critic Leonard Feathers assertion that he was the middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone, meaning that his tone wasnt as aggressive and thick as John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins, but neither was it as soft and cool as Stan Getz or Lester Young. Instead, Mobleys in-between, round (as he described it) sound was controlled and even, given over to subtlety rather than intense displays of emotion. Even if he lacked the galvanizing, mercurial qualities of the eras great tenor innovators, Mobley remained consistently solid throughout most of his recording career. His solo lines were full of intricate rhythmic patterns that were delivered with spot-on precision, and he was no slouch harmonically either. As a charter member of Horace Silvers Jazz Messengers, Mobley helped inaugurate the hard bop movement: jazz that balanced sophistication and soulfulness, complexity and earthy swing, and whose loose structure allowed for extended improvisations. As a solo artist, he began recording for Blue Note in the latter half of the 50s, and hit his peak in the first half of the 60s with hard bop cornerstones like Soul Station, No Room for Squares, and A Caddy for Daddy.
 
Henry Hank Mobley was born on July 7, 1930, in Eastman, GA, and grew up mostly in Elizabeth, NJ. Several family members played piano and/or church organ, and Mobley himself learned piano as a child. He switched to the saxophone at age 16, initially modeling his style on players like Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Don Byas, and Sonny Stitt. He soon started playing professionally in the area, and built enough of a reputation that trumpeter Clifford Brown recommended him for a job without having heard him play. That job was with Paul Gaytens Newark-based R&B band, which he joined in 1949, doubling as a composer. He departed in 1951 and joined the house band at a Newark nightclub, where he played with pianist Walter Davis, Jr. and backed some of the eras top jazz stars. That led to a job with Max Roach, who hired both Mobley and Davis after performing with them; they all recorded together in early 1953, at one of the earliest sessions to feature Roach as a leader. Meanwhile, Mobley continued to gig around his home area, playing with the likes of Milt Jackson, Tadd Dameron, and J.J. Johnson, among others; he also served two weeks in Duke Ellingtons orchestra in 1953.
 
Mobley spent much of 1954 performing and recording with Dizzy Gillespie. He left in September to join pianist Horace Silvers group, which evolved into a quintet co-led by Art Blakey and dubbed the Jazz Messengers. Their groundbreaking first album for Blue Note, 1955s Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, was a landmark in the genesis of hard bop, with its sophisticated solos and bright, almost funky rhythms. Mobley led his first session for Blue Note, The Hank Mobley Quartet, in 1955, and recorded for Savoy and Prestige during 1956. In the middle of that year, the original lineup of the Jazz Messengers split, with Blakey keeping the name and Silver forming a new group. Mobley stayed with Silver until 1957, by which time he had begun to record prolifically as a leader for Blue Note, completing eight albums worth of material over the next 16 months. Some of his best work, such as Hank Mobley and His All Stars and The Hank Mobley Quintet, was cut with a selection of old Messengers mates. Not all of his sessions were released at the time, but some began to appear as import reissues in the 80s. Often composing his own material, Mobley was beginning to truly hit his stride with 1958s Peckin Time, when a worsening drug problem resulted in an arrest that took him off the scene for a year.
 
Upon returning to music in 1959, Mobley oriented himself by rejoining Art Blakey in the Jazz Messengers for a short period. His comeback session as a leader was 1960s classic Soul Station, near-universally acknowledged as his greatest recorded moment. Mobley cut two more high-quality hard bop albums, Roll Call and Workout, over 1960-1961, as well as some other sessions that went unreleased at the time. In 1961, Mobley caught what looked to be a major break when he was hired to replace John Coltrane in Miles Davis quintet. Unfortunately, the association was a stormy one; Mobley came under heavy criticism from the bandleader, and wound up leaving in 1962. He returned to solo recording with 1963s No Room for Squares, often tabbed as one of his best efforts, before drug and legal problems again put him out of commission during 1964. Energized and focused upon his return, Mobley recorded extensively during 1965, showcasing a slightly harder-edged tone and an acumen for tricky, modal-flavored originals that challenged his sidemen. At the same time, Dippin found a funkier soul-jazz sound starting to creep into his work, an approach that reached its apex on the infectious A Caddy for Daddy later that year.
 
Mobley recorded steadily for Blue Note through the 60s, offering slight variations on his approach, and continued to appear as a sideman on a generous number of the labels other releases (especially frequent collaborator Lee Morgan). 1966s A Slice of the Top found Mobley fronting a slightly larger band arranged by Duke Pearson, though it went unissued until 1979. After cutting the straightforward Third Season in 1967, Mobley embarked on a brief tour of Europe, where he performed with Slide Hampton. He returned to the U.S. to record the straight-ahead Far Away Lands and Hi Voltage that year, and tried his hand at commercially oriented jazz-funk on 1968s Reach Out. Afterward, he took Hamptons advice and returned to Europe, where he would remain for the next two years. 1969s The Flip was recorded in Paris, and Mobley returned to the States to lead his final session for Blue Note, Thinking of Home, in 1970 (it wasnt released until ten years later). He subsequently co-led a group with pianist Cedar Walton, which recorded the excellent Breakthrough in 1972.
 
Sadly, that would prove to be Mobleys last major effort. Health problems forced him to retire in 1975, when he settled in Philadelphia. He was barely able to even play his horn for fear of rupturing a lung; by the dawn of the 80s, he was essentially an invalid. In 1986, he mustered up the energy to work on a limited basis with Duke Jordan; however, he died of pneumonia not long after, on May 30, 1986. During Mobleys heyday, most critics tended to compare him unfavorably to Sonny Rollins, or dismiss him for not being the innovator that Coltrane was. However, in the years that followed Mobleys death, Blue Note hard bop enjoyed a positive reappraisal; with it came a new appreciation for Mobleys highly developed talents as a composer and soloist, instead of a focus on his shortcomings.