Hank Mobley Festival

[Leeway]

Just got back from NYC, where I had a chance to catch one night of the week-long Hank Mobley Festival. Different tenor each night. On the night I went, Joe Lovano was on tenor, Don Sickler, trumpet, John Hicks, piano, Tom Givens, bass, and Victor Lewis, drums. I really enjoyed the show. Lovano was terrific on several of the pieces, but a bit "off" on a couple of others. Sickler was the music director of the festival and the group, and he was surprisingly good. Hicks also turned in a terrific set, and Lewis and Givens were excellent.

Tonight's performance (Saturday) has Seamus Blake on tenor, and tomorrow (Sunday), Eric Alexander on tenor.

Anyone have a chance to see any of these shows? It's good to see the memory and musical contribution of Mobley kept alive.

[Leeway]

So..where are all the Mobley fans? Must not be any in New York

[Soul Stream]

So..where are all the Mobley fans? Must not be any in New York

Check AAJ. Hardbop MUST have gone and written a report up over there.

[jodigrind]

I caught the show where they focused on the "soulful" side of Mobley's compositions with Houston Person on tenor. Great stuff. Among the compositions were "Bossa for Baby", "Soul Station", and "A Baptist Beat".

[bluesForBartok]

I had the pleasure of working for Don a few years ago as his right hand man and helped put together a week long set dedicated to Kenny Dorham.

Don always does an outstanding job so I'm sure these shows were fantastic. I hope he keeps doing this sort of thing.

[Guest youmustbe]

Lovano was terrific, as usual. He gets better and better.

[danasgoodstuff]

A tenor player I knew in MN used to do a Mobley tribute band called Straight No Filter whenever he could get gigs for them around the Twin Cities. His name is Scot Fultz. I'm not sure if he still does SNF but whatever he's doing is usually worth checking out. I am slightly biased 'cause he let me read my Hank Mobley poem with the band at a gig once.

[Parkertown]

I am slightly biased 'cause he let me read my Hank Mobley poem with the band at a gig once.

Well, that's pretty cool.

Have you ever posted it for US to read? hint hint, nudge nudge...

B)

[Leeway]

I had the pleasure of working for Don a few years ago as his right hand man and helped put together a week long set dedicated to Kenny Dorham.

Don always does an outstanding job so I'm sure these shows were fantastic. I hope he keeps doing this sort of thing.

Youmustbe:  Lovano was terrific, as usual. He gets better and better.

I was really impressed with Don's musicianship, technical and expressive. Surprising he doesn't gig more, wish he would. I really appreciate what he's doing for Mobley's legacy.

As for Lovano, Youmustbe, did you attend the show? Or are you talking more generally about his career? As I commented, I was not impressed by some of Lovano's solo work during the set. Maybe he was still finding his groove, as this was the early set. On the other hand, a few of the solos DID burn, and the overall quality of his playing was certainly high. I also commend Lovano for taking on such a relatively small gig for him.

As for his getting better and better, that I'm not too sure about. I'm still trying to decide if he belongs in the first-tier of Blue Note tenors. Does he belong with Rollins, Shorter, Henderson, or Mobley for that matter? I'm still undecided.

[danasgoodstuff]

Parkertown,

Um, actually I haven't posted it here yet but will when I dig it up and figure out how to make italics work on the posting (it has song/album titles in italics). Thanks for asking.

[Parkertown]

Thanks Dana, that'd be great!