Hank Mobley Quintet
Released - March 1957
Recording and Session Information
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 8, 1957
Art Farmer, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
tk.1 Wham And They're Off
tk.6 Funk In Deep Freeze
tk.7 Startin' From Scratch
tk.8 Stella-Wise
tk.9 Base On Balls
tk.10 Fin De L'affaire (as End Of The Affair)
Session Photos
Photos: Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images /
https://www.mosaicrecordsimages.com/
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| Funk in Deep Freeze | Hank Mobley | 08/03/1957 |
| Wham and They're Off | Hank Mobley | 08/03/1957 |
| Fin de l'affaire | Hank Mobley | 08/03/1957 |
| Side Two | ||
| Startin' from Scratch | Hank Mobley | 08/03/1957 |
| Stella-Wise | Hank Mobley | 08/03/1957 |
| Base on Balls | Hank Mobley | 08/03/1957 |
Credits
| Cover Photo: | FRANCIS WOLFF | |
| Cover Design: | HAROLD FEINSTEIN | |
| Engineer: | RUDY VAN GELDER | |
| Producer: | ALFRED LION | |
| Liner Notes: |
|
Liner Notes
ON a cold, rainy Friday night in December of 1955 a jazz concert was held at the Far Rockaway High School auditorium in Long Island. This was the first of what turned out to be many such concerts at the school and one of the first of its kind on the east coast.
The purpose of the concert was to educate and enlighten the student body (made up of youths ranging in age from fourteen to eighteen) in the area of jazz — good jazz. And so the Jazz Messengers (Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham and Doug Watkins) were asked to appear.
Harry Colomby, who teaches American History at the school, promoted the affair and beginning at 8 o’clock waited nervously outside in the bitter cold for the Messengers to arrive. They were late. The show was scheduled to get under way at 8:30 and Colomby had planned to open with them, but at 8:45 with his star attractions unaccounted for he was forced to begin with a pick up band. This group played for almost an hour, resorting to various Rock and Roll tactics to keep the youthful (and as yet “unhip”) audience interested in the proceedings. Colomby shivered and prayed. At 9:35 the headlights of a black sedan pierced the misty night air and Colomby uncrossed his half frozen fingers. The Jazz Messengers had arrived.
It seems that several obstacles hod been encountered. The group was engaged at the Storyville in Boston and had traveled down to New York expressly for the concert. The trip was a long and tiring one and during its course Watkins’ bass suffered a mishap and he had spent a great deal of time trying to locate another one. Finding the school in the miserable weather had not been an easy task either.
At any rate the unit (showing no visible signs of wear) was immediately rushed on stage and after o brief introduction, began to ploy. There was no honking, no suggestive twists of the pelvis, no unnecessary extraneous exhibitions. But the kids listened — they dug. Exceptionally talented musicians were “teaching jazz,” as Blakey put it, and I doubt that the kids would hove objected to homework.
I don’t know how much the Messengers received in the way of monetary compensation for that gig (it could not hove been much more than scale, funds being supplied by the school General Organization) but they played with a vigor and enthusiasm reserved by most musicians for after hours sessions.
The Messengers, as such, are no longer together but all except Dorham are heard on this LP and the same aggressive drive and expressiveness that sparked their original group (represented on Blue Note BLP 1507, BLP 1508, and BLP 1518) is quite evident here.
Hank Mobley is the leader on this date and conclusively proves what he had given strong indication of in his earlier recordings (BLP 1540 and BLP 1544 under his own name, those listed above and with the Horace Silver Quintet BLP 1539); that he is one of the more important tenor men in modern jazz. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey July 7, 1930, Hank picked up the tenor sax when he was sixteen and worked his first professional job when nineteen. Before joining the Messengers he played with Lester Young, Wardell Gray, Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie among others.
Art Farmer, the trumpet on these sides, has never been more virile and imaginative. Art, born in Council Bluffs, Iowa August 21, 1928 and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, is a truly gifted but too often overlooked musician (why is that?) who has worked with many prominent artists representing o variety of schools and styles of jazz; Horace Henderson, Lionel Hampton, Lester Young and Sonny Rollins, to mention only a few.
Doug Watkins hails from Detroit, his birthdate, March 2, 1934 and has been on the New York scene for only three years. During this short period (most of it spent with the Messengers) he has emerged as one of the more promising young bassists who is constantly growing, both as o soloist and accompanist.
Horace Silver and Art Blakey are perhaps the two most ubiquitous cats around, and deservedly so. Few pianists swing with Horace’s uncanny sense of rhythm and camping skill, and Art is one of the two or three top drummers. Born in Norwalk, Connecticut September 2, 1928, Silver has shined in countless groups and has recorded rather extensively for Blue Note in units fronted by such as Miles Davis (BLP 1502), Jay Jay Johnson (BLP 1506), Paul Chambers (BLP 1534), J. R. Monterose (BLP 1536), Lou Donaldson (BLP 1537), Lee Morgan (BLP 1538 and BLP 1541), Blakey (BLP 1521 and BLP 1522), Mobley (BLP 1540 and BLP 1544) and with his own trio (BLP 1520) and quintet (BLP 1539).
Blakey, the “old man” of the group was born in Pittsburgh, October 11, 1919. He too is well represented on Blue Note having recorded with his own ensemble (BLP 1521 and BLP 1522), Miles Davis (BLP 1501 and BLP 1502), Milt Jackson (BLP 1509), Thelonious Monk (BLP 1510 and BLP 1511), Clifford Brown (BLP 1526), Lou Donaldson (BLP 1537), Jimmy Smith (BLP 1547, BLP 1548, BLP 1551 and BLP 1552), Mobley (BLP 1544), Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore (BLP 1549).
All the tunes included in this album are impressive, engrossing Mobley originals. Side one starts with the bouncing, “bluesy” Funk in Deep Freeze. Farmer leads off with one of his typically absorbing solos after which Silver expounds on his theory of what Funk is all about. Watkins has a short, well constructed stint before Hank comes on, and he comes on strong.
Wham and They’re Off opens with a rocking Blakey statement, a bright unison theme and Hank’s happy, swinging tenor. Farmer in a similar groove follows the leader with Silver right behind him. Blakey adds some keen, punctuating remarks (most of them exclamation points) and a brace of driving, characteristic “breaks.”
Fin De L’Affaire (End of the Affair) is o pretty ballad, reflective and poignant. Hank, Art F. (muted) and Horace discuss ended affairs they’ve known in brooding, pensive tones. Watkins and Blakey provide properly sensitive backing.
Everyone stretches out and blows at length on Startin’ From Scratch, a swift, uptempo opus, and the wailing continues with Stella-Wise, slightly reduced in tempo but no less exuberant.
Base On Balls, a minor blues, begins with what has, of late, become the standard opening for a minor blues; Watkins’ walking bass, followed by some very funky Silver piano, a Blakey drum roll and Mobley’s soulful tenor. Farmer projects o provocative “down home” feeling before Watkins “walks out.”
Hank Mobley’s voice — a significant one — has mellowed, come of age as it were. It is vital, flexible and potent and should be heard.
— ROBERT LEVIN
Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF
Cover Design by HAROLD FEINSTEIN
Recording by RUDY VAN GELDER
RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes
A NEW LOOK AT QUINTET
Looking at the cover, one might be excused for assuming that the title was simply Hank Mobley. That, however, would lead to confusion with BLP1568, so the Quintet designation included on the back of the original LP is generally added. Many Mobley fans prefer to designate the set as Funk in Deep Freeze, in honor of the opening track that proved to be among the saxophonist's most popular compositions. Yet the full front-cover copy — Hank Mobley with Farmer, Silver, Watkins, Blakey — provides the most accurate summary of the album's two-edged narrative. Consider this band either a reunion of the original Jazz Messengers, with Art Farmer in Kenny Dorham's trumpet chair, or the then-current Horace Silver Quintet, with Blakey instead of Louis Hayes on drums.
In any event, this March 8, 1957 session marked the end of several associations that helped to define the hard bop style. Silver, settling into a successful career as bandleader, was just about finished taking supporting jobs on other folks' albums. After appearing on Sonny Rollins Vol. 2 the following month (Blakey is also present), he would confine all of his future recordings to his own albums. That allowed for one more encounter with Mobley and two with Farmer before each left the Silver Quintet, but it brought an end to the Silver/Watkins/Blakey rhythm section that had already earned its place in the jazz pantheon.
The celebration of Mobley's writing skills, like that of his playing, has been after-the-fact, gaining some of its early impetus when Chet Baker of all people adopted "Funk in Deep Freeze" as a standard part of his 1970s repertoire. Even today, most of the other tunes here have failed to be covered, a result perhaps of Mobley's frequent use of borrowed chord changes. (If the harmony is already there, why not write your own original line?) This might explain the neglect of such worthy creations as "Wham and They're Off," "Fin de l'Affaire" and "Startin' from Scratch," which my ears suggest are derived from "There Will Never Be Another You," "Don't Explain," and "Just You, Just Me," respectively. What cannot be denied are Mobley's gift for making familiar patterns his own and his gift for -c6mfortably colloquial titles that help to distinguish his tunes from so many other more mundanely-named "originals" of the period.
All of the performances here are first rate, as might be expected from musicians who shared so much studio and bandstand time. Given Robert Levin's comment about what had become "the standard opening for a minor blues" on "Base on Balls," it is worth mentioning that two of the performances most responsible for the trend are Miles Davis's "Blue Haze," which included Silver and Blakey, and Sonny Rollins's "Blue Seven," where Watkins did the walking. Fans of the underappreciated bassist will also welcome his lovely sound and steely attack in solo on the "Funk in Deep Freeze" takes, while those who fault Blakey for dynamic excess should check out his solo on "Stella-Wise."
The two alternate takes included here illustrate the choices that producer Alfred Lion made so astutely throughout his career. Both compositions were tackled at the start of the session, with the original "Wham and They're Off" recorded first. The alternate followed and, as frequently occurred, repetition led everyone to push a bit harder. The playing is good, but only in the greater continuity of Farmer's solo does it represent an improvement over the initial effort.
The band then tackled "Funk in Deep Freeze, " and here the first version recorded proved to be the alternate take. Despite playing that might have been acceptable to some, the mood of the tune had not totally taken hold. Farmer in particular sounds as if he is thinking his way through the changes, and there are fewer surprises in Mobley's solo choruses. Silver and Watkins are the most consistent soloists, though they, too, benefit from the second effort that produced the superior master.
Art Farmer's subsequent career may have created the impression of a trumpeter too lyrical to be a hard-bopper, but he is right at home with Mobley's music, and uncommonly close to his former Lionel Hampton section-mate Clifford Brown on the brisk "Startin' from Scratch." Farmer is also the only member of the group to appear on any of the four subsequent Blue Note sessions that Mobley led in 1957. It might appear that Mobley was leaving his Jazz Messenger affiliation behind him, though he would serve a second term with Blakey in 1959, Musically, of course, he never left home.
— Bob Blumenthal, 2008
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