Back from a summer vacation which provided a healthy dose of sun and outdoor activities. Great to be back posting vintage jazz albums though. This is a great album. A really nice copy. The images aren’t doing it justice. My camera on my old iPhone 6 Plus is pretty thrashed and is not working well at all. I will upgrade to an iPhone XS before long. Let’s hope the images will be of better quality then.
I have several albums featuring Mobley but this is the only one where he plays the only horn in the band. He does a great job. It’s smooth, warm and relaxing music even when the tempo is a bit faster. I’m impressed Blakey’s playing on this one as well. He plays quite delicate. He usually is a force of nature pounding away on the drums and crashing cymbals, sometimes lacking a bit of finesse. But on this album he plays a bit lighter it seems. I like that. A good and interesting contrast. The tunes are all very nice. The band is cooking. You can’t really go wrong with Hank Mobley on the tenor sax, Wynton Kelly on the keys, Paul Chambers on the double bass and Art Blakey on drums.
I have searched and waited for a good copy. I really enjoy it so the search have been on for quite a while. Really happy to finally have secured it. One interesting thing is that many fellow jazz fans hold “Soul Station” in very, very high regard. Citing it as their favorite Mobley album. I think it’s great. It’s up there among his best output. But is it the best, for me? I’m not sure. I haven’t listened to all of his albums, but of the ones I have listened to it has to be in the top 3.
I think it would be really interesting to hear you guys opinion on this album and where it’s placed on your Mobley favorites list. Maybe you can name your top 3 Mobley albums? He is such a loved artist among jazz record collectors, as his albums frequently sell for very high prices. Maybe that is also because of other factors, as if it’s on Blue Note, if it’s really rare or if it has some other really popular cat on it. But I believe people want his albums because of his beautiful, laid back playing and composing skills as well.
I have managed to acquire some nice pieces lately and I’m excited about that. Stay tuned for those showing up here on the site. I’d like to expand my collection a bit faster, but it’s very difficult when you are after these type of original 1st pressings in decent condition. Slowly but surely… it has to be that way.
Have great day everyone, cheers!