No Room for Squares [Import, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Hank Mobley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 27, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Japan
• ASIN: B00002DF4M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #985,597 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Three Way Split

2. Carolyn

3. Up a Step [*]

4. No Room for Squares

5. Me 'N You

6. Old World Imports [*]

7. Carolyn (Alternate Take) [Alternate Take][*]

8. No Room for Squares [Alternate Take][*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Mobley, One of the Kings of Tenor Tone, February 4, 2005

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: No Room for Squares (Audio CD)

Like it says in the official review, most of this is album is Mobley, Morgan, Hill, Ore and Philly Joe, while 2 tracks are Mobley, Byrd, Hancock, Warren and Philly Joe.

Whether or not I think of this album as highly as Soul Station comes down to nothing more than the mood I am in at the time. If I want All Mobley All the Time, then Soul Station is the big winner. If I'm in the mood for having the ball passed around to more players, this is the one. This may very well be my favorite playing I've ever heard by Lee Morgan.

If you can listen to this album and sit still, you're a better (or maybe just unfortunate) person than I. Albums like this almost break your heart, when taken within the historical context of jazz. How is it that a tenor player can play like this and not be a household name... even within some corners of the jazz community?? You'd have a hard time convincing me that Mobley wasn't the singlemost underrated, and historically undervalued tenor player of the entire "classic jazz" era.

The man was a musical giant, and on this album he put together yet another classic Blue Note. A straight-ahead, power-grooving bop masterpiece. This one is essential.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You gonna argue with Miles?!, April 29, 2001

By 

Blake S. (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Room for Squares (Audio CD)

Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Miles Davis were all known for working with up-and-comers and setting them to flight when they felt the player could get nothing more from hangin' around...and Mobley flew. "No Room For Squares" is one of the many jazz albums that is not just a classic because of its many players (Lee Morgan/Donald Byrd on trumpet; Andrew Hill/Herbie Hancock on piano, and Philly Joe Jones on the drums) but because of the quality and depth of this music. This album isn't "fun" like some jazz recordings, it's serious and seriously cool (which can be laughable traits unless you've got the goods). This is the kind of album that sets a connoisseurs collection apart from the average collection of "classic" jazz. In the revised liner notes, Bob Blumenthal quips that this album could've been called "No Room For Improvement". I can only bow to his superior review and humbly concur.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Room For "No Room For Squares", September 26, 2000

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Room for Squares (Audio CD)

"No Room For Squares" is my favorite Hank Mobley album. That's saying a lot considering "Soul Station" and the scandalously deleted "Roll Call" are easily two of Blue Note's top 100 albums of all time. This album features two sessions from 1963 -- one featuring Lee Morgan, Andrew Hill, John Ore (on bass), and Philly Joe Jones, and the other featuring Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren and Philly Joe. This CD is different from the original CD issue -- the original CD gathered all the music that was recorded on 10/2/63, while the RVG version mirrors the original vinyl release and adds two alternate takes as bonuses. "No Room For Squares" opens with Philly Joe's furious hi-hat and cymbal work on the hard-swinging "Three Way Spilt." "Carolyn," a sensual ballad, is next followed by "Up A Step," one of two tracks originally issued on CD on "Straight, No Filter." The up and down melody of the title track is next, followed by Lee Morgan's "Me 'N You," which has a Sidewinder-like feel, although at a slightly faster clip, and this tune could have easily been used for that famous car commercial instead. "Old World, New Imports," the other "Straight, No Filter" track and the two alternate takes conclude the RVG version of this album. While I prefer the original CD sequencing, the inclusion of material from "Straight, No Filter" is very significant, particularly since I have seen that original CD sell at auction for more than $100! Blue Note plans to re-release "The Turnaround" on CD in October, and hopefully "Straight, No Filter" will follow. For now I'm holding on to my old CD too, but as soon as all this material is available there will be no reason to own both. In all, the music is classic regardless of the different sequencing. Don't be a square, get "No Room For Squares."