Moko Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 To Chewy if you are interested in writing a book on Hank why not self publish it as an ebook or as Kindle download. I can't imagine that many traditional publishers would be that interested (but the other book found a publisher so who knows) but going down the DIY route might make sense and I'm sure by posting about it on the various jazz blogs out there you could drum up enough worldwide interest to sell a good few copies. The Internet has changed a lot of the ways things are done and your idea would be of a huge importance to a surprisingly large number of Mobley out there. So please get typing........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 To Chewy if you are interested in writing a book on Hank why not self publish it as an ebook or as Kindle download. I can't imagine that many traditional publishers would be that interested (but the other book found a publisher so who knows) but going down the DIY route might make sense and I'm sure by posting about it on the various jazz blogs out there you could drum up enough worldwide interest to sell a good few copies. The Internet has changed a lot of the ways things are done and your idea would be of a huge importance to a surprisingly large number of Mobley out there. So please get typing........ You'll probably need to do some capitalizing, unless you're planning on doing an e.e. cummings thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 My interest in Mobley was what drew me to the old Blue Note board in the first place, he was my doorway into the label. Why? His playing connects with me, simple as that. Same with me! Hank Mobley is one of my favourites, I´d go so far as saying he´s my idea of a tenor player. But......not for Miles, especially during the things that would settle in the 60s. A player like Hank Mobley would have been ideal for the Miles of 1950,51, when he played a strong bop oriented horn and sometimes had Lestorian players like Brew Moore or Stan Getz together with J.J. Johnson as a line up. And yeah, sure I also have the book about Hank Mobley, but there could be space for another book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Do you find him utterly disposable? Personally, yes. Maybe not disposable, but dispensable. I can name at least 50, maybe 100 tenor players I prefer. The only Mobley album I ever owned was The Turnaround, mostly for Freddie's brilliant contribution. I think I'm fonder of Mobley than Pete, but up to a point I agree with him - he does seem to garner more attention here than some players I consider to be superior or at the same level. I'm not sure whether that is a reflection of his many appearances on Blue Note (remember the genesis of his board), the relative popularity of 50s/60s hard bop relative to older and newer styles, or maybe just the fact that his superiors have been discussed to death. Think of the "ink spilled" on this board on even more obscure/marginal figures. Personally, when I put on a recording with Hank, I generally find that I enjoy his playing more than I expected, which is the kind of thing that would prompt discussion. But he also released A LOT of recordings. A less generous listener could consider some of them interchangeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Yes, perhaps part of Hank's appeal (especially over the last 25 years) is that he was on Blue Note -- but it isn't just which label he was on - but the consistently solid sideman that appeared on nearly every one of his dates (since he was practically always on Blue Note). Face it, Hank wouldn't be as highly revered if half his dates had been on Prestige and other lesser labels. In fact, Hank's lack of "band leadership" acumen (in combination with being on Blue Note, with their session 'rehearsal' policies) may have ultimately lead to much greater variety of sessions, and all of them with a higher quality of sidemen. And let me be the first to suggest that Andrew Hill benefited greatly from all of those very same things. There's NO way Hill's music would have worked on a less supportive and 'nurturing' label, or (frankly) with less sympathetic sidemen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I'm not sure I 'get' the cult of Mobley, least not on a deep personal level - but the existance of it bothers me not one bit. Yeah, but not a bad idea to question it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Isn't this a cult with one member, Aric? One member who has dreams about Mobley visiting him doesn't a cult make. The rest of us enjoy his music a lot. BFD. Isn't this just a backhanded slap at his fans, that they've really just "drunk the Kool-Aid" but enlightened people still see him as dispensible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Yes, I don't see a cult at all, a few very vocal fans and a large number of those who enjoy his recordings. Michael Cuscuna is I believe a very influential fan who has done his best to get the music out there. Thanks Michael, for many things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moko Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I think Hank's appeal apart from the obviously great music is that for people both new to jazz like myself & for established listeners is its relatively easy to follow Hank's career as a leader & side man across a broad range of great sounding Blue Note LP's.. Plus even with the Internet there's still a fair amount of mystery about him (just try looking for some video footage of him) rather than the over analysed work of Miles & Coltrane which sparks curiosity in fans. In regards to self publishing I don't think it takes any advance money to put up books on the kindle platform rather its a fee per book download. There was a recent article about the 1st millionaire author on amazon recently which explains the process http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110620005891/en/John-Locke-Independently-Published-Author-Join-%E2%80%9CKindle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 In regards to self publishing I don't think it takes any advance money to put up books on the kindle platform rather its a fee per book download. There was a recent article about the 1st millionaire author on amazon recently which explains the process http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110620005891/en/John-Locke-Independently-Published-Author-Join-%E2%80%9CKindle No but to write a biography requires lots of legwork, research, interviews, travel and--heaven forbid--the ability to write a coherent sentence within the rules of standard English grammar, orthography and punctuation, a tall order for some, I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) Getting back to the Blackhawk topic for a moment, I've always thought that Hank's behind the beat phrasing clashed with Jimmy Cobb's rushed pacing (which may have been Miles's preference). Cobb played far more supportively under Miles than under Mobe. Edited January 19, 2012 by mjzee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlitweiler Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Any discussion of Hank without reference to his writing, is incomplete. He was prolific and extraordinarily talented. Considering his entire body of work, I'm not sure there are many who operated at his level. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of his playing, but I'm even a bigger fan of his writing. Including his arranging. Hank said that he composed the arrangements for "A Slice of the Top" while he was in jail - he was Duke Pearson's ghost writer. Good music. Of course, he was always an ingenious composer-arranger, kept the music lively with intros, interludes, codas, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) Including his arranging. Hank said that he composed the arrangements for "A Slice of the Top" while he was in jail - he was Duke Pearson's ghost writer. Good music. I've never been certain how much to attribute to Hank, in regards to the arrangements (I'm not sayin' they're not his, just that I wasn't sure). But I've always thought "Slice..." and "Third Season" were the apex of arranging out of all his leader-dates, and a big part of the reason they're easily my two favorite Hank dates. On a different subject, are/were there any published interviews with Hank, especially from the 60's? Other than maybe a few quotes in some liners, I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything he had to say about music (or anything else). Edited January 20, 2012 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 On a different subject, are/were there any published interviews with Hank, especially from the 60's? Other than maybe a few quotes in some liners, I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything he had to say about music (or anything else). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moko Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks for the great interview posting that's the first actual interview I have ever seen of Hank's, isn't there supposed to be one from one of the classic jazz magazines like Down Beat as well if anyone could post a copy of Hank's other interviews that would be really kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted January 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 dawg call it apple pie with a cherry on top if u want to, i love me some hank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks for the great interview posting that's the first actual interview I have ever seen of Hank's, isn't there supposed to be one from one of the classic jazz magazines like Down Beat as well if anyone could post a copy of Hank's other interviews that would be really kind. That one was from Down Beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moko Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Sorry I haven't ever seen a copy of Downbeat to know what one would look like coming from the UK and being relatively young! So does that make it the only major interview that Hank ever did, or are there more out there to track down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 No problem. AFAIK, that's it. There might be something done during his European sojourn, but if so, I've not heard of it. BTW - the DB interview/article was done by John Litweiler, who posts here on occasion (including a few posts earlier in this thread!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) Besides being on BN, and championed by Mike Cuscuna, Hank also became a sort of poster child for every musician who 'wasn't a giant, but had his own voice'. and, yes, I do own nearly everything he did and LOVE most of it. But he still wasn't a great match for Miles in that band at that time, and Miles wasn't one to be happy with just good enuff...Hank & Lee & Higgins, a triangle made in heaven! Edited January 21, 2012 by danasgoodstuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Friedman Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 The Blackhawks recordings feature , in my opinion, marvelous playing by both Miles and Wynton Kelly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Yeah! Mobley is somewhat more exciting on the Carnegie Hall recording, to my ears! But at that point of the quintet's story, he fit in nicely I'd say. Not sure if Miles knew himself where he wanted to go at that point. He sounds poised on the live recordings with Stitt, but some of that was lost again by the time Mobley joined - that's how I seem to hear it at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Hasn't he been referred to as the middleweight champion? I like him and BN hard bop fine. Sometimes a lot more than fine. He seems technically wonderful, in the moment, and less idiosyncratic than someone like Wayne or Sam. Seems to me, Miles was looking for idiosyncratic, and not just anyone. He would know it when it was there. Turned out to be Wayne Shirter I guess. I personally love chewy chew chew's thing for Hank. And west coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Yes, it was Wayne Shirter. What if he had found what he was looking for in Booby Hutcherson instead! Good points C. This thread inspired me to put on some Friday Night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Shirter. Thanks for backing me up on that Lon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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