Henry "Hank" Mobley was an American tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Lester Young, and his style that was laid-back, subtle and melodic, especially in contrast with players like Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. The critic Stacia Proefrock claimed him "one of the most underrated musicians of the bop era." Mobley's compositions include "Double Exposure," "Soul Station", and "Dig Dis."
Douglas Watkins was an American jazz double bassist. He was best known for being an accompanist to various hard bop artists in the Detroit area, including Donald Byrd and Jackie McLean.
At the Cafe Bohemia, Vols. 1 & 2 are a pair of separate but related live albums by the Jazz Messengers recorded at the Café Bohemia jazz club in Greenwich Village on November 23, 1955 and released on Blue Note in April 1956.
Trane's Blues is a compact disc credited to the jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1999 on Blue Note Records, catalogue 98240. It comprises recordings from sessions for Blue Note and United Artists Records as a sideman for Paul Chambers, Sonny Clark, Johnny Griffin, and Cecil Taylor that were issued respectively on their Whims of Chambers, Sonny's Crib, A Blowin' Session, and Hard Driving Jazz albums. Two selections are from Coltrane's own 1957 Blue Train, and "One for Four" had been previously unissued. "Trane's Blues" had been issued on the compilation High Step in 1975, previously known as "John Paul Jones" and named after himself, the bass player Chambers, and the drummer Philly Joe Jones. Like Prestige Records before them, as Coltrane's fame grew long after he had stopped recording for the label, Blue Note used varied recordings, often those where Coltrane had been merely a sideman, and reissued them as a new album with Coltrane's name prominently displayed. In this case, the Big Four conglomerate EMI continued that earlier practice.
Roll Call is an album by jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. It features trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey.
The Jazz Messengers is the first studio album by the Jazz Messengers, released in 1956 by Columbia Records. It was their fourth overall album, and also their last recording to feature the group's co-founder, Horace Silver, on piano.
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is an album by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers compiling two 1955 10" LPs—Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 3 and Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 4 ( —recorded on November 13, 1954 and February 6, 1955 respectively and released on Blue Note in October 1956—Silver’s debut 12". The quintet features horn section Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham and rhythm section Doug Watkins and Art Blakey.
The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk is a box set by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk compiling his recordings for Blue Note first released as a limited four-LP box set on Mosaic Records in 1983 before being issued as a four-CD box set by Blue Note for the first time in 1994 as The Complete Blue Note Recordings.
Hank Mobley Quintet is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley released on the Blue Note label in 1957 as BLP 1550. It was recorded on March 8, 1957 and features Mobley, trumpeter Art Farmer, bassist Doug Watkins, pianist Horace Silver, and drummer Art Blakey. These musicians were the first lineup of The Jazz Messengers, with Farmer instead of Kenny Dorham. The album was remastered in 2008 by Rudy Van Gelder and issued on CD.
Mobley's 2nd Message is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley, released on the Prestige label in 1957. It was recorded on July 27, 1956, one week after Mobley's Message (1957), and features performances by Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Walter Bishop, Doug Watkins and Art Taylor.
Jazz Message #2 is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley released on the Savoy label in 1957. It was recorded on July 23 & November 7, 1956 and features performances by Mobley, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Hank Jones, Doug Watkins Barry Harris, Kenny Clarke and Art Taylor. Lee Morgan was very young in this recording.
Moving Out is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. This was his second for Prestige Records, featuring Kenny Dorham, Elmo Hope, Percy Heath, and Art Blakey, and one track with Thelonious Monk, Tommy Potter, and Art Taylor. The first 4 tracks had originally appeared on as the 10-inch LP Sonny Rollins Quintet Featuring Kenny Dorham, and the final track had appeared on the 10-inch LP Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk.
Blue Spring is a 1959 album by jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham and saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released on the Riverside label, featuring performances by Dorham and Adderley with Dave Amram, Cecil Payne, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones or Jimmy Cobb.
6 Pieces of Silver is a studio album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1957 featuring performances by Silver with Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins and Louis Hayes. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars and states "The early Silver quintet was essentially The Jazz Messengers of the year before but already the band was starting to develop a sound of its own. "Señor Blues" officially put Horace Silver on the map". The front cover photograph was taken at Central Park West, Upper West Side.
My Conception is an album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark, recorded for the Blue Note label and performed by Clark with Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey. It was originally released in 1979 in Japan, as GXF 3056, featuring six tracks recorded in 1959 including an alternate take of "Royal Flush", a track that had appeared on the album Cool Struttin'. The 2000 limited CD reissue also comprised the three additional tracks originally recorded for Sonny Clark Quintets, an album which never saw the light of the day until being released later only in Japan.
At the Jazz Corner of the World, Vols. 1 & 2 are a pair of separate but related live albums by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, recorded at the Birdland jazz club in New York City on April 15, 1959 and released on Blue Note later that year in September and October respectively. The quintet features horn section Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley and rhythm section Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt and Art Blakey.
Farmer's Market is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring performances recorded in 1956 and released on the New Jazz label.
MAX is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach featuring tracks recorded in 1958 and released on the Argo label.
New Sounds was originally a 10" LP compiling previously released 78 rpm records on the Blue Note label. A CD reissue with the same name and cover appeared in 1991, but while using many of the same personnel, had only two tracks in common with the original LP. It instead compiled a distinct James Moody 10" LP with the Art Blakey tracks and included several tracks previously unreleased on LP or any format. Conversely, the tracks omitted from the CD, which were on the Moody LP, have not been reissued on CD.
