During his tenure with Miles Davis, Hank Mobley made four Blue Note albums with band mates Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers, the most celebrated being Soul Station with Art Blakey on drums. For Roll Call, recorded nine mon... more »ths later, Mobley assembled the same magnificent rhythm section and added Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. The result rivals its more well known predecessor in swing, soul and incredible solos. The gospely "A Baptist Beat," heard here in two takes, has become a favorite among club DJs and acid jazz fans. Hank Mobley: Tenor Saxophone
All Artists:Hank Mobley Title:Roll Call Members Wishing: 5 Total Copies: 0 Label:Blue Note Records Original Release Date: 1/1/1960 Re-Release Date: 8/27/2002 Album Type: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered Genres:Jazz, Pop Style: Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPCs:724354003028, 724354003059
Synopsis
Album Description
During his tenure with Miles Davis, Hank Mobley made four Blue Note albums with band mates Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers, the most celebrated being Soul Station with Art Blakey on drums. For Roll Call, recorded nine months later, Mobley assembled the same magnificent rhythm section and added Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. The result rivals its more well known predecessor in swing, soul and incredible solos. The gospely "A Baptist Beat," heard here in two takes, has become a favorite among club DJs and acid jazz fans. Hank Mobley: Tenor Saxophone
Freddie Hubbard: Trumpet
Wynton Kelly: Piano
Paul Chambers: Bass
Art Blakey: Drums
CD Reviews
Fantastic!
G. Schramke | Vienna, Austria | 08/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is one of Mobley's greatest records. He uses the same rhythm section that he had on his album "Soul Station", done some month earlier (Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Art Blakey), adding Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. With such a fast company, everybody bursting with enthusiasm, it was clear that that something great would happen. Hank Mobley had reached the peak of his career, with his unique sound, phrasing and harmonic skills fully developed. The addition of Freddie Hubbard is very rewarding. He was then"the new voice" and became one of the most influential trumpet players of the sixties. A particularly nice tune here is "A Baptist Beat", done twice (the original master and an alternate take). It is the album's feature of traditional influences, just like it happend on the title tune of the mentioned "Soul Station". The only non-original is the rarely performed "The More I See You", really a beautiful tune with a rare feature of Hubbard unsing the harmon mute. The special thing about Hank Mobley is his unique musicianship, he isn`t as spectacular like, let's say Johnny Griffin, with whom he recorded in 1957, with John Coltrane featured ("A Blowing Session", also available on RVG-Series), he has a more sublte way of expression, but once he has reached you, you'll love him the same way I do."
Energetic and exciting, not at all mellow
bob248 | 11/19/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I purchased this album, largely based on my love of Soul Station. Roll Call is a very different animal. The tempo is energetic, and never lets up. Freddie Hubbard blows, and blows, and clearly dominates every track. In my opinion it would have been more correct of Blue Note to label this album a Freddie Hubbard album, rather than Hank Mobley (even though Hank was the leader). If you are expecting to hear much of Wynton Kelly, then forget it. He has a few short solos, but otherwise you would barely notice that he was even present. Art Blakey and Paul Chambers do a fine job of backing Freddie and Hank. The whole band play in a unified, tight-knit group, and it is clear that they "clicked".When you play this album, don't expect to sit back and relax. This is not an album to play late at night, to relax you after a hard day at the office. It is one that you should listen to in the morning to get your blood pumping for the day ahead."
Flawless jazz
N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 09/23/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Blue Note in their inscrutable wisdom let this disc drop out of catalogue for many years, while keeping its companion _Soul Station_ in print. Good to see it finally getting caught up in the latest wave of reissues. It reunites the band from _Soul Station_ a few months later--Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Blakey--with the new addition of a young Freddie Hubbard. It thus represents a dovetail of two future relationships for the horns: Hubbard after this was to become a longstanding member of Blakey's Jazz Messengers, while Mobley was to join Chambers & Kelly in Miles Davis's band.This is a blunter album than _Soul Station_: whereas the former album had mostly quite brief tracks, this one has two ten-minute cookers, the title-track & "A Baptist Beat". Blakey is in imperious, hardhitting form, & Hubbard is quite wonderful: he's not yet become as slick & self-assured as he was in later years, & here he's got a slightly more acrid tone & an extra ounce of brashness & wildness. It's an album where the mix of musical personalities seems just right, giving the album an upbeat but laidback vibe that's very attractive.The reissue is nicely done, & the bonus track (the alternate take of "A Baptist Beat") is quite good, not just a space-filler. (One nice touch is Wynton Kelly's sneaking in a little Gershwin under cover of Hubbard's solo; & Chambers also gets an arco feature not on the released take.) A pity that Van Gelder can't do anything about the album's one minor flaw--the bum note on the studio piano that's most prominent on the title-track--but that's hardly more than a minor quibble. This is an album good to have back in the racks."
Pure Dynamite
Michael Hardin | South Duxbury, Vermont United States | 02/25/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is by far my favorite Hank Mobley album. Recorded in 1960, this album features a young and blistering Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers, a solid rhythm team on piano and bass, and the explosive Art Blakey on drums.The title track takes off right from the beginning, a minor key powerhouse that inspires great solo work from the group. The other notable tune is "A Baptist's Beat," straight from the heart of hard bop, grooving insistently. Both are Mobley originals as are all but one of the others. The group dynamic is very good, the rhythm section surges ahead with Blakey in the driver's seat, and Hubbard and Mobley shine. Hank had a way of melding with trumpet players, in and out of the Jazz Messengers, specifically with the likes of Lee Morgan and Kenny Dorham, as well as Donald Byrd.Buy this CD if you like highly charged, straight ahead jazz. If you want to pat your feet, pat your feet. If you want to take off your shoes, take off your shoes. Put this CD on to have a ball, and swing."
One Roll Call You Don't Want to Miss
Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 08/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rank this one slightly ahead of "Workout" and just behind "Soul Station," if only because the additional horn cuts down on Mobley's solo time. Hank is on fire, immediately throwing down the gauntlet on the opener, on which Hubbard accepts the challenge and acquits himself admirably.
As for Mobley, this was his most fertile period as an improviser. No one thinks faster or makes quicker decisions, whether he's responding to a Blakey press roll, a Kelly chord substitution, or simply a statement of his own (he brings no "agenda" to a solo; it's simply a matter of listening hard to yourself and letting imagination take its course).
To my ears, Hubbard is just as dramatic and full-sounding on this outing as Lee Morgan but more precise. Maybe because of the influence of the non-showmanship and ceaseless invention of Mobley, he goes for none of the flashy, often ill-placed stratospheric notes that, whether he hits them or not, bring a grimace of pain to the listener of many of his later recordings.
The compositions and arrangements are often inspired, though "My Groove Your Move" strikes me as another generic G minor blues, and "A Baptist Beat" mines the all too familiar territory of popular gospel-inflected standards like "Moanin'" and "The "Preacher." Fortunately, the soloists' contributions on both tunes overcome the limitations of the material.
With little fanfare, Blue Note or Amazon has reduced the prices on many of these most recent RVG reissues to levels that are more affordable than downloading the individual tunes as MP3 files. All the more incentive to pick this one up sooner rather than later."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1