Henry "Hank" Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz 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 included "Double Exposure," "Soul Station", and "Dig Dis," among others.
McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public recognition from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did. For this reason, writer Gary Giddins said that Dorham's name has become "virtually synonymous with underrated." Dorham composed the jazz standard "Blue Bossa", which first appeared on Joe Henderson's album Page One.
Edward Rudolph "Butch" Warren Jr. was an American jazz bassist who was active during the 1950s and 1960s.
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.
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.
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is a 1956 repackage of 1955 10” LPs by jazz pianist Horace Silver with drummer Art Blakey and featuring Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, and Doug Watkins on bass. By the time this repackage was released, this quintet had named themselves the Jazz Messengers, and the band name on the label reflected that. These recordings helped establish the hard bop style. Scott Yanow on Allmusic describes it as "a true classic". Originally released as an LP, the album has subsequently been reissued on CD several times.
More News for Lulu is the second album of hard bop compositions performed by John Zorn, George Lewis, and Bill Frisell. Like the previous News for Lulu it features tunes by Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Freddie Redd and Sonny Clark but also contains with one tune each by Misha Mengelberg and Big John Patton. The album was recorded live in Paris and Basel. It was released in 1992 on the Swiss Hathut Record label.
Poppin' is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley first released on Blue Note Japan in 1980 as GXF 3066. It was recorded on October 20, 1957 and features Mobley, trumpeter Art Farmer, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer “Philly” Joe Jones.
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.
Hank Mobley is an album by jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley released on the Blue Note label in 1957 as BLP 1568. It was recorded on June 23, 1957 and features Mobley, trumpeter Bill Hardman, alto saxophonist Curtis Porter, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor.
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.
Dial "S" for Sonny is the debut studio album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark recorded in 1957 for the Blue Note label and performed by Clark with Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Hank Mobley, Wilbur Ware, and Louis Hayes. The album title is an allusion to Frederick Knott's play Dial M for Murder, which was first produced in 1952 and then made into a successful film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954.
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.
Afro-Cuban is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The first release of the album dates back to 1955 on 10" Vinyl, featuring only four tracks and having a different cover artwork. Some time later, Blue Note decided to add three tracks and issue a more complete LP toward the end of May 1957. After publishing a 2003 RVG edition which featured two additional pieces and a different track listing, Blue Note remastered and recompiled Afro-Cuban in 2007, restoring the original track order.
Showboat is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham featuring performances of tunes from the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat recorded in 1960 and released on the Time label.
Inta Somethin' is a live album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham featuring performances recorded at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco in 1961 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions is limited edition box set that was released by Mosaic Records in 1998. Included are Mobley's recordings for Blue Note in the late 1950s from the albums The Hank Mobley Quartet, Hank Mobley Sextet, Hank Mobley & His All-Stars, Hank Mobley Quintet, Hank, Hank Mobley, Curtain Call, Peckin' Time and Poppin' . The albums were recorded with Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, Sonny Clark, Kenny Dorham, Art Farmer, Bill Hardman, Milt Jackson, Philly Joe Jones, Wynton Kelly, Lee Morgan, Charlie Persip, Jimmy Rowser, Horace Silver, Art Taylor, Bobby Timmons, Wilbur Ware, and Doug Watkins.
MAX is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach featuring tracks recorded in 1958 and released on the Argo label.
Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years is a compilation album featuring recordings by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in groups together and separately which were originally released on Mercury and subsidiary labels.
