Hank Mobley: Workout (Blue Note Classic Vinyl series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl edition is mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl in the EU. It puts Mobley's warm tenor beside Grant Green's guitar and a rhythm section of three Miles Davis alumni.

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl series
• Mastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray
• 180g vinyl
• Pressed in the EU
• Stereo mix

About the album

Some sessions sound like hard graft. Workout, despite the title, sounds like five friends having the time of their lives. Hank Mobley cut it at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on March 26, 1961, and brought along a crew who knew exactly how he liked to swing: relaxed, in the pocket and never in a hurry to show off.

Grant Green's guitar takes the place of a second horn, trading clean, bluesy lines with Mobley's tenor, while Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones keep the whole thing bouncing. Four of the five tunes are Mobley originals: the title track charges out of the gate, "Uh Huh" and "Greasin' Easy" sit deep in the blues, and "Smokin'" lives up to its name. The one standard, "The Best Things in Life Are Free," shows off his lyrical side, all soft edges and long, singing phrases.

Blue Note's Classic Vinyl series brings core titles from the catalogue back from the original tapes, and Workout is a natural pick. The title is a little misleading, mind you: nobody has broken a sweat listening to it since 1962.

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

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 5832034), a reissue of the 1962 album.