Hank Mobley--Reach Out

[mikeweil]

I just bought a sealed original vinyl copy a week ago. What a kick letting the LP see the light of day after 30 years of imprisonment. That being said, is that a rock beat I heard on a song or two? Also, Shaw's trumpet is so far back in the mix that it sounds like a kazoo(what a waste and not what I'm used to hearing on '60's BN's). Weird recording/mastering. I hope the LP enjoyed it's 40 minutes of freedom, cus it's back inside the jacket for another 30 years.

That was about my reaction when I got me a vinyl copy years before the CD came out. Except that I sold it so it has the chance that somebody else pulls it out ... Never bought the CD, doubt that I ever will, only if it's very cheap.

To me, Mobley's dullest outing on Blue Note. All the session released posthumously or in the Blue Note Classics Series were better than this one.

[Brad]

I, too never, made the move on this one. Sort of wanted to but for some reason never did. Somebody once compared it to Grant's I Want to Hold Your Hand, I suppose because they were both pop standards. Any validity in that?

[Soul Stream]

I, too never, made the move on this one. Sort of wanted to but for some reason never did. Somebody once compared it to Grant's I Want to Hold Your Hand, I suppose because they were both pop standards. Any validity in that?

NO!!!!!!

Grant Green's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is absolute wonder. A lone Beatles cover done BEAUTIFULLY!!! Other than that, the titles are all straight ahead. One of the best organ albums ever made. GET THIS CD NOW!!!! Or forget about enjoying life.

[connoisseur series500]

Grant Green's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is absolute wonder. A lone Beatles cover done BEAUTIFULLY!!! Other than that, the titles are all straight ahead. One of the best organ albums ever made. GET THIS CD NOW!!!! Or forget about enjoying life.

Beautifully said, and accurate in the highest degree!

[connoisseur series500]

I just thought of something:

It would suck if Soul Stream and I decided to walk into a cd shop together. Our musical tastes seem so closely aligned that we'd end up on the floor wrestling over the same titles!!

That's okay, man. I'd give you first choice since I'm all spent out here!

[Soul Stream]

I just thought of something:

It would suck if Soul Stream and I decided to walk into a cd shop together. Our musical tastes seem so closely aligned that we'd end up on the floor wrestling over the same titles!!

That's okay, man. I'd give you first choice since I'm all spent out here!

I don't know conn., if two people were in the same record shop both looking at jazz organ cds...the world is probably coming to an end.

...by the way. It's a SHAME the uninitiated might think that "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is a lame 60's-era Beatles cover schlock job. Even in the Grant Green biography they mistakenly say so (guess they didn't listen to it!!! ).

This is simpley one of the most beautiful, gorgeous recordings made by any of the men involved. And Mobley kills too. Corcovado! Speak Low! Jeez....the whole thing's a damn PERFECT record!!!!

[Dmitry]

In my opinion this one is pretty good, and one track is phenomenal.

Let me guess - it's "Beverly", isn't it?

Edited August 29, 2003 by Dmitry

[connoisseur series500]

In my opinion this one is pretty good, and one track is phenomenal.

Let me guess - it's "Beverly", isn't it?

I just played it 2x and it's one of those albums that signify me not only as a music lover, but also as a completist/collector...

The super track for me is "Up Over and Out." Killer song and as good as anything he's done.

"Beverly" is also outstanding.

I'm spinning this disk again. It is a superb session really.

[jazzbo]

Beverly is cool, but it is Up, Over and Out that knocks me out (and is the tune that Aric was referring to that is recorded unofficially from Europe).

[Dmitry]

I've changed my mind about Reach Out after hearing it 5x in the last 2 days.

It's far from a "superb session", like someone said, but definitely not as bad as others[and I] proclaimed it to be. It's solid!

Shame about the recording. It's got to be one of the worst studio-recorded cds I have. That's one of the reasons why I listen to Reach Out so infrequintly. Especially Benson's guitar. It sounds like it was recorded in a big plastic bag.

Morganized, have you picked it up?

[Jazzdog]

Especially Benson's guitar. It sounds like it was recorded in a big plastic bag.

Hmmmm...I wonder if he was in there with John and Yoko?

[Morganized]

After receiving fantastic guidance about this session from the Board memebers I thought the least I could do is report back and say thanks. I went ahead and purchased the CD and I must say that I agree with almost everything that was said about this session. I agree that the quality of the recording is not as good as it should be. I agree that there are 4 strong cuts on the cd. IMO Hank could of left off the cover tunes but I must admit his rendition of Going Out of My Head is much better than most who attempted that crossover thing during that time period. I might even be able to go for it, unfortunately, I am old enough to remember when every cheesy lounge/bar you went into had an organist playing some pathetic version of this. Kinda ruins the tune for me.

The other four tunes are better than I expected. My favorite, after several listenings has to be Beverly(sorry Conn., Jazzbo, I agree with Dimitry on this one). It is a really strong tune. I like Up, Over and Out as well and Good Pickens too, but Beverly would be my pick.

Want to thank all the board members who provided a very, very, accurate review of the session. I learn a great deal just reading your comments.

Stay cool. B) B) B)

[Brad]

I, too never, made the move on this one.  Sort of wanted to but for some reason never did.  Somebody once compared it to Grant's I Want to Hold Your Hand, I suppose because they were both pop standards.  Any validity in that?

NO!!!!!!

Grant Green's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is absolute wonder. A lone Beatles cover done BEAUTIFULLY!!! Other than that, the titles are all straight ahead. One of the best organ albums ever made. GET THIS CD NOW!!!! Or forget about enjoying life.

I actually have Grant's I Want to Hold Your Hand and agree with everything Soul Stream said. More so than Grant or Mobley, it's the playing of Larry Young on this album that grabs me. It's Reach Out that I was trying to see if it could be compared to, since I don't have that one. BTW, I wouldn't consider myself one of the "uninitiated", just wanted to know how Reach Out compares to it.

Edited September 1, 2003 by Brad

[Brad]

I just picked this one up and frankly I don't know whose idea it was to record the title track and Going Out of My Head because they're played so straight, I'm not sure you could call it jazz. I don't want to say it's background music but they stick out like a sore thumb compared to the other four tunes on the disc, which are in the hard bop style. Obviously, each of the pop tunes were the covers for each side of the LP. Not a bad cd, if you skip the two pop tunes, which in my view waste the enormous talent on this recordd.

[jazzhound]

i just got the lp and Benson smokes on this date. grant Green must have had an anxiety attack when he first heard George. Brought jazz guitar into a new era.

[danasgoodstuff]

Put me down in the "I like it" column, yes including the covers, esp'ly "Going Out of My Head"--Hank's phrasing on the bridge is a thing of wonder and anything but "straight". But that I think so won't surprixe anyone who's read my posts or heard my BFT... Not Hank's best nor as good as "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" but perfectly enjoyable. If someone discovered an albums worth of Hank doing hits of the day from back in the day I'd buy it in a flash, of course I'd buy previously unknown originals in half a flash...

[Guest]

Hi Guys!

Add me to the "like a lot" list. I play it often.

Ok it starts off kind of slow with the "Reach out" song and Hank seems out of shape but the album gets better and better.

The sound of the RVG is also OK.

/Shaft

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

i just got the lp and Benson smokes on this date. grant Green must have had an anxiety attack when he first heard George. Brought jazz guitar into a new era.

They were friends. When they were playing together, Grant knew he had to control the tempo. If he didn't, George would pick fast stuff and rip Grant to shreds. At a more relaxed tempo, Grant's sound and feeling couldn't be matched by George; nearly, but not quite.

MG

[jazzhound]

i just got the lp and Benson smokes on this date. grant Green must have had an anxiety attack when he first heard George. Brought jazz guitar into a new era.

They were friends. When they were playing together, Grant knew he had to control the tempo. If he didn't, George would pick fast stuff and rip Grant to shreds. At a more relaxed tempo, Grant's sound and feeling couldn't be matched by George; nearly, but not quite.

MG

i totally disagree. Benson has tons more creativity. Much better technique and his clear sound demonstrates it.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

i just got the lp and Benson smokes on this date. grant Green must have had an anxiety attack when he first heard George. Brought jazz guitar into a new era.

They were friends. When they were playing together, Grant knew he had to control the tempo. If he didn't, George would pick fast stuff and rip Grant to shreds. At a more relaxed tempo, Grant's sound and feeling couldn't be matched by George; nearly, but not quite.

MG

i totally disagree. Benson has tons more creativity. Much better technique and his clear sound demonstrates it.

I wasn't talking about creativity; I was talking about emotion. But both had personal ways of expression. Though George had undoubtedly the best combination of sound and technique, if judged on sound alone, his sound isn't quite as beautiful as Grant's. No contest on technique - George wins hands down. But that was NEVER what Grant was about.

MG

[jazzhound]

i just got the lp and Benson smokes on this date. grant Green must have had an anxiety attack when he first heard George. Brought jazz guitar into a new era.

They were friends. When they were playing together, Grant knew he had to control the tempo. If he didn't, George would pick fast stuff and rip Grant to shreds. At a more relaxed tempo, Grant's sound and feeling couldn't be matched by George; nearly, but not quite.

MG

i totally disagree. Benson has tons more creativity. Much better technique and his clear sound demonstrates it.

I wasn't talking about creativity; I was talking about emotion. But both had personal ways of expression. Though George had undoubtedly the best combination of sound and technique, if judged on sound alone, his sound isn't quite as beautiful as Grant's. No contest on technique - George wins hands down. But that was NEVER what Grant was about.

MG

[/quot

technique and ability to express oneself on an musical instrument are inseparable, not two different things.

[JSngry]

technique and ability to express oneself on an musical instrument are inseparable, not two different things.

That's a loaded proposition...

Depends on how you're defining those terms. A "lack of technique" has been used to marginalize all types of jazz since Day One by certain "Western" aesthetes. To them, there is one clear standard of "good techinque", and the value of any given expression is defined by how well this particular technique is displayed. By this standard, anybody and (almost) everybody from Louis Armstrong to Albert Ayler has been judged lacking in "sophistication" (or something along those lines..

Of course, the "non-Western" POV, from which jazz is clearly operating from (usually) says that thechnique is only a means to an end, not the end itself. If Monk had less "technique" than Horowitz (or, to keep it in the family, Tatum), that's because his technique was molded to meet his specific needs, to accomplish his personally necessary ends.

so if you're going to say that Benson had better technique than Green, and was therefore better able to express himself and therefore in the end "more expressive" (not that that is what you're saying), then you might as well go ahead and say that Al Demiola is more expressive than was Charlie Christian.

Techique is only a measuarble/comparative quantity relative to itself. It's ok, imo, opinion to say that Benson had a broader range of technical skills than did Grant, because, yeah, he did. He could play faster, no doubt. But that's where the legitimacy of the compasison ends. It's wrong to equate realtive "techniques" to the relative expressiveness of two players who are both expressing themselves fully and naturally, because in jazz, there is no one standard of expressiveness other than to tell your own story as best you can. )At least there didn't used to be...) And the "best technique" is whatever one(s) it is that enables you to do that. Period.

Again, no accusations of such a chauvinistic attitude as referenced qbove are being made here. It's just that when people start talking about "technique" and "expression" as interchangeable qualities, you never know what they mean or where they're coming from. If you want to say that either Green or Benson told their story more effectively than the other, hey, be my guest. There ain't no wrong answer, if you know what I eman. Just know that if the question of thier relative "techniques" is the determining factor either way, then the boat is being severly missed, and in more ways than one...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

technique and ability to express oneself on an musical instrument are inseparable, not two different things.

That's a loaded proposition...

Depends on how you're defining those terms. A "lack of technique" has been used to marginalize all types of jazz since Day One by certain "Western" aesthetes. To them, there is one clear standard of "good techinque", and the value of any given expression is defined by how well this particular technique is displayed. By this standard, anybody and (almost) everybody from Louis Armstrong to Albert Ayler has been judged lacking in "sophistication" (or something along those lines..

Of course, the "non-Western" POV, from which jazz is clearly operating from (usually) says that thechnique is only a means to an end, not the end itself. If Monk had less "technique" than Horowitz (or, to keep it in the family, Tatum), that's because his technique was molded to meet his specific needs, to accomplish his personally necessary ends.

so if you're going to say that Benson had better technique than Green, and was therefore better able to express himself and therefore in the end "more expressive" (not that that is what you're saying), then you might as well go ahead and say that Al Demiola is more expressive than was Charlie Christian.

Techique is only a measuarble/comparative quantity relative to itself. It's ok, imo, opinion to say that Benson had a broader range of technical skills than did Grant, because, yeah, he did. He could play faster, no doubt. But that's where the legitimacy of the compasison ends. It's wrong to equate realtive "techniques" to the relative expressiveness of two players who are both expressing themselves fully and naturally, because in jazz, there is no one standard of expressiveness other than to tell your own story as best you can. )At least there didn't used to be...) And the "best technique" is whatever one(s) it is that enables you to do that. Period.

Again, no accusations of such a chauvinistic attitude as referenced qbove are being made here. It's just that when people start talking about "technique" and "expression" as interchangeable qualities, you never know what they mean or where they're coming from. If you want to say that either Green or Benson told their story more effectively than the other, hey, be my guest. There ain't no wrong answer, if you know what I eman. Just know that if the question of thier relative "techniques" is the determining factor either way, then the boat is being severly missed, and in more ways than one...

That's put a lot better than I would have done. Thanks young sir...

MG

[jazzhound]

it just so happens that the greatest musicians also had the greatest technique whether it be Rich , Coltrane, Mclauglin, Corea and so on. of course having great technique doesn't mean you are a great musician, it is just one prerequsite. Green often sounds limited by his technique to my ears. Benson sounds like he could play anything he could hear.

[Soul Stream]

Hey, enough is enough. Some guys have "it", some don't. George and Grant both had it by the truckload. Can you play? Cool. How you do it doesn't really matter all that much.