Remember (Hank Mobley’s version)

Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). From the album Soul Station (1960).

Although Hank Mobley was not a great innovator, he was an excellent musician, and this album is the best one he recorded. It was recorded in the Rudy Van Gelden studios and belongs to the hard bop style. He is joined by his former Jazz Messengers bandleader Art Blakey and two future bandmates of Miles Davis: Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers.

The clean sound that came out of that group is a demonstration that he was at the peak of his career. Due to the strength of his technique he can handle rhythmically intricate material while maintaining the kind of roundness and warmth showed by the best musicians of the swing era. Jazz critic Bob Blumenthal described the album as saying: “It’s one of the finest programs of music on Blue Note or any other label.”

This is a joyful theme that invites you to enjoy life. Mobley starts his solo in a creative way, taking his time to develop his discourse, but he also includes faster phrases. Then Kelly comes in with an animated statement that makes you move your head and feet, and Chambers follows with his double bass solo that contains very good ideas. Mobley comes back playing some more sentences and giving way to the re-exposure of the theme.