Hank Mobley: No Room For Squares (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series edition is a 180g pressing made in the EU, in the original stereo. AllMusic gave the album four stars and called it highly recommended.

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
• 180g vinyl
• Stereo
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Hank Mobley never needed to shout to win a room. No Room for Squares catches the tenor man at his relaxed, swinging best, writing sharp tunes and handing them to some of the brightest young players on the Blue Note roster.

The album pulls from two 1963 sessions. The October 2 date pairs him with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Andrew Hill on piano, John Ore on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, and gives us the strutting title track, the bouncing "Three Way Split" and the warm "Carolyn." From the March session come "Up a Step" and "Old World, New Imports," with Donald Byrd on trumpet, a young Herbie Hancock on piano and Butch Warren on bass. Mobley wrote most of the tunes, and the mix of Hill's angular comping and Hancock's bright touch keeps it lively from start to finish. Philly Joe Jones, on drums for both dates, is the glue that holds the two bands together.

AllMusic's Thom Jurek praised its gritty, realist take on the roots of hard bop. Note that the title is a promise, not a dress code; we'll still sell you a copy in a cardigan.

Also at Kops: more Hank Mobley on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note / UMe (cat# 5524252), a reissue of the 1964 album.