Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Mobley, c. 1956

Today's post will feature the story of Hank Mobley, the hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer. It is another side of The Jazz Ethos. First, some bio background. Henry, better known as Hank Mobley, was born in Georgia on July 7, 1930. His family moved to New Jersey when he was a child, and he grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Music played a significant role in his upbringing. He didn't start playing the tenor saxophone until he was in high school, after recovering from a long illness. In fact, it was his grandmother, who was schooled as an opera singer, who encouraged him to pick up the tenor sax. He was largely self-taught, with some informal private lessons along the way. Incidentally, he attempted to enroll in a performing arts school in Newark but was unsuccessful. Probably because he was from Elizabeth, which is in a different County. It is also interesting to note that Wayne Shorter came from nearby Newark, NJ. 2 Jersey guys. Mobley was 3 years older than Shorter. Wayne Shorter attended Newark Arts High School and then went on to college at NYU. Hank did not go to college. He jumped right into the Black entertainment (Chitlin') circuit, following his uncle.

Although all of his recordings are on Tenor sax, he also played alto and baritone saxes. He was a featured musician for the Blue Note Records label in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, yet "new" (read, previously unreleased recordings) albums were released posthumously as recently as a few years ago. Some of his classic and most noteworthy albums are No Room for Squares, Workout, and Soul Station. He was fully committed to his music, his craft, his Jazz Ethos. I have compiled a partial list of noteworthy Hank Mobley albums at the end of this piece. Check them out. The album name follows each link.

Mobley was only 22 years old when he participated in his first recording session with the Max Roach Quartet in 1953 on Max Roach and Charles Mingus's short-lived Debut Records label. One of the songs on that date was called "Chi Chi", a blues associated with Charlie Parker. This version of the song was recorded 3 months before the original, more famous recording done by Charlie Parker. As the story goes, Charlie Parker gifted this song to Max Roach when he found out that Max was making his first recording as a leader. Max Roach had been Parker's regular drummer. It sounds to me, after listening to this track, that Hank Mobley practiced or jammed with the Charlie Parker quartet. He must have, since Mobley is quoted as stating that it was Bird who encouraged him to just play the Blues. And that is the path Mr. Mobley took. The other members of this recording of "Chi Chi", besides Mobley and Roach, were Walter Davis, Jr., on Piano, and Franklin Skeete, on Double Bass. Mobley and Walter Davis Jr. played with Roach for about 2 years in the early 1950s.

One of Hank's more famous songs, "Hipsippy Blues", from 1959, became a part of the Jazz Messengers' regular portfolio. The memorable release is what I referred to earlier. The Album was recorded in 1959 but not actually released until 2020 – Just Coolin'. Yep, it was cooling in the Blue Note vaults for 60 years! More on that in a later article, with Art Blakey on drums, Hank Mobley on Tenor Sax, Lee Morgan on Trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on Bass. This was during Hank Mobley's second round with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, by the way. Speaking of rounds, a phrase often associated with Hank Mobley, and coined by Leonard Feather, was that Hank was "the middleweight champion of the Tenor Saxophone". A somewhat backhanded compliment within the pantheon of modern tenor saxophonists, such as John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Wayne Shorter. Much has been written about this. I think there is nothing wrong with being compared to Sugar Ray Robinson, Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, or Thomas Hearns. End of discussion on this point.

Mobley achieved prominence during the 1950s and '60s playing primarily in the genre known as hard bop. Some describe his sound as being somewhere in between that of Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz. He described his sound as having a "Round Sound". Freddie Hubbard was quoted at one time as describing Mobley as his favorite tenor player. Others described his sound as having a brilliant, lyrical, or Pure sound. Judge for yourselves. Also notable is that Mobley was a prolific composer, penning more than 120 original songs during his illustrious career, according to his obituary, which may be his most incredible legacy. He had "retired" from full-time performance, struggling with his health, both physical and mental, including substance abuse and homelessness, and died in 1986 at the age of 55 in Philadelphia. Luckily, we have many selections where he's leading his own group on Blue Note or as a sideman on Blue Note records.

Before we leave, there is an episode in his career worth mentioning. Some Day My Prince Will Come – you know, from the animated Disney movie Snow White. It is also a Miles Davis Album from March 1961. Miles Davis's wife at the time, Frances Taylor, appears on the front of the Album. Miles and Mobley are on the front line. The rhythm section consisted of Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. John Coltrane had left the Miles Davis band during the spring of 1960; yet, he appears on two of the tracks on this Album, including the title cut. I think Miles was marking time here, or at least in transition with his band personnel. Coltrane had spread his wings, and Miles had performing and recording contracts to fulfill. Hank Mobley ultimately proved to be a temporary solution. Other tenor saxophonists briefly passed through the group, as well: George Coleman, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Heath, to name a few.

So, Trane is in the studio on the day of the recording of the Album, almost a year later? And John Coltrane didn't record as a leader for Columbia Records. Coltrane solos on the title track of Some Day My Prince Will Come, along with Mobley! As the story goes, Miles was looking for a particular sound, and apparently, Mobley didn't fit the bill. Of course, Mobley's heroin addiction didn't help his case with Miles. Mobley had two other albums with Miles Davis, both of which were live albums. One was done at a concert, Live at Carnegie Hall, in May of 1961, and another was 1961 Live at the Blackhawk, the venerable jazz club in San Francisco. Someday My Prince Will Come was released at the end of 1961. It had to have an effect on Hank's ego. In fact, there are some not-so-flattering quotes from Miles about not feeling it with Hank Mobley in one of his biographies. Can you imagine the comparisons among fans?

As previously mentioned, Hank Mobley passed away just shy of his 56th birthday due to a combination of health problems, both from his heroin addiction, which included 2 stints of incarceration, and from his pulmonary conditions, exacerbated by his further addiction to nicotine, which also cut short his career. There is hardly a picture taken by Francis Wolfe of Blue Note Records during Mobley's recording sessions where a cigarette is not dangling from his lips, even on Album covers. This caused his premature retirement by the mid-1970s. Rumors, and I stress just rumors, abound that Mobley died destitute and homeless. Apparently, he was found extremely ill in the Amtrak station in Philadelphia in 1986 and died shortly thereafter at a local hospital - the other side of The Jazz Ethos. Keep on Cookin'.