Booker Ervin vs. Hank Mobley
Posted: 24 Oct 2008, 14:35
Two of my favorite tenor sax players with different approaches to hard bop. Both of them slowly disappeared from the scene, practically forgotten by all but their biggest fans. Hank is always described as having a "round" tone to his sound. IMO, Mobley was one of the most important writers AND players in the hardbop category of jazz. Booker had a tougher sound, one that showed a lot of emotion. His ability to scream and cry no matter how fast or intricate the changes always impressed me.
I couldn't live without either of them in my music collection. Along with Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson, these two tenor titan's discography take up a lot of space on my shelves. That's because with few exceptions, these two remained at the top of their game until they shuffled off this mortal coil.
Unlike Mobley, I have not been able to buy many of Ervin's best albums on vinyl. There must still be a lot of "Book" fans out there holding on to their precious Prestige rekkids, or selling them at outrageous prices.
Not only did these two make a lot of good albums as leaders, but they also did a lot of excellent recording as sidemen. Booker is most famously known for his work with Mingus but he also did several great albums with one of my favorite pianists, Randy Weston. Weston's African Cookbook on Atlantic and his Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival album from 1966 are two fine examples. Both albums feature Ervin on a song written for Weston's mother, Portrait of Vivian. According to the liner notes, Ervin was in tears by the end of his solo on that song. Do you think he was feeling it? Horace Parlan is another musician who tapped into Ervin's gift as a player of real emotion.
Hank Mobley seemed to be everywhere on the Bluenote label. Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Sonny Clark, Paul Chambers, and many more used his playing and writing skills on their albums as leaders in the 50s and 60s.
If you have more than 5 Bluenote albums in your collection, I'm willing to bet at least one of them has Mobley on it.
I couldn't live without either of them in my music collection. Along with Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson, these two tenor titan's discography take up a lot of space on my shelves. That's because with few exceptions, these two remained at the top of their game until they shuffled off this mortal coil.
Unlike Mobley, I have not been able to buy many of Ervin's best albums on vinyl. There must still be a lot of "Book" fans out there holding on to their precious Prestige rekkids, or selling them at outrageous prices.
Not only did these two make a lot of good albums as leaders, but they also did a lot of excellent recording as sidemen. Booker is most famously known for his work with Mingus but he also did several great albums with one of my favorite pianists, Randy Weston. Weston's African Cookbook on Atlantic and his Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival album from 1966 are two fine examples. Both albums feature Ervin on a song written for Weston's mother, Portrait of Vivian. According to the liner notes, Ervin was in tears by the end of his solo on that song. Do you think he was feeling it? Horace Parlan is another musician who tapped into Ervin's gift as a player of real emotion.
Hank Mobley seemed to be everywhere on the Bluenote label. Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Sonny Clark, Paul Chambers, and many more used his playing and writing skills on their albums as leaders in the 50s and 60s.
If you have more than 5 Bluenote albums in your collection, I'm willing to bet at least one of them has Mobley on it.