Straight No Filter [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Hank Mobley

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: March 7, 1963
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B0000589UT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,770 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Hank Mobley's Blue Note dates of the 1960s had a remarkable consistency, a blend of Mobley's mellow sound and fluid invention with a shifting core of sidemen who shared his commitment to the tenets of hard bop--music that matched harmonic complexity with forceful swing. That consistency comes to the fore on Straight No Filter, with material from four quintet sessions presented in reverse chronological order from 1966 to 1963. The core is a session from 1966, with a band of trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Billy Higgins that produced just three tunes, but they're all outstanding, from the insistent title track to the blues march of "Soft Impressions." Titles might have gotten mixed up between the recording and the material's first release in 1979. The extended "Chain Reaction" is a sideman's chronicle, a variant of Coltrane's "Impressions," already based on the scalar pattern of Miles Davis's "So What." It's a pattern that Mobley and Tyner had explored almost nightly during their tenures in the Davis and Coltrane bands respectively, and Mobley even throws in a quotation from "St. Thomas," a nod to Cranshaw's regular employer, Sonny Rollins. The other three sessions contribute two tracks each, completing the material from Mobley's Turnaround and No Room for Squares sessions. Along the way there are repeat appearances by Morgan, Higgins, and drummer Philly Joe Jones that give a unified feel, while there's a remarkable range of distinctive pianists, from the angular Andrew Hill to the boppish Barry Harris and the smoother Herbie Hancock. There's often a funkier feel, with "Hank's Waltz" inspiring a superb Freddie Hubbard trumpet solo and "Yes Indeed," the only standard included, suffused with a strong gospel feel. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Straight" Was Worth The Wait, February 23, 2001

By	Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Hank Mobley's "Straight No Filter" was until this reissue, arguably the single most sought after out of print CD in the Blue Note catalog, if not all jazz. I once saw one sell at an on-line auction for over ...! But now with "No Room For Squares" and "The Turnaround" being reissued in the RVG series (and with their original vinyl sequencing), it was only fitting to make "Straight No Filter" available as well. But interested buyers should purchase this quickly because "Straight" is a limited edition title, and it will not make a permanent return to the catalog as an RVG edition.

"Straight No Filter" is basically the leftovers from Mobley's brilliant mid-sixties Blue Note sessions. There are nine songs from four different dates featuring a variety of musicians, but the CD flows amazingly well. The songs are tracked in reverse chronological order with the first three cuts from 6/17/66 featuring Mobley, Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins. These are probably the disc's weakest offerings with "Chain Reaction" borrowing a bit much from Coltrane's "Impressions" (which in turn borrowed from Miles Davis' "So What"), but at least Tyner feels at home in this setting.

"Third Time Around" and "Hank's Waltz" were both originally released on the first CD version of "The Turnaround," in order to unite all the music recorded at the 2/4/65 session featuring Mobley, Freddie Hubbard, Barry Harris, Paul Chambers and Higgins. Next is "Syrup and Biscuits" and "Comin' Back" which were both originally available on the first CD version of "No Room For Squares," to assemble all the songs from the 10/2/63 session. The songs from October 2nd studio recording have always been my favorite, largely due to the innovative lineup of Morgan, Mobley, Andrew Hill, John Ore and Philly Joe Jones. And, these four tracks just mentioned are definitely the meat of this Mobley disc, but then again they are songs that have been with me for a decade as I owned the original CDs.

The real pleasant surprise for me was the disc's last two tracks -- "The Feelin's Good" and Sy Oliver's old-time swinger "Yes Indeed," the only tune not penned by Mobley on "Straight No Filter." These tracks, and two more on the RVG version of "No Room for Squares," were from a 3/7/63 session featuring Mobley, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren and Philly Joe. Why Alfred Lion didn't make Mobley pull out a few standards or old Jazz Messenger tunes, and keep the tape rolling, I don't know. There was truly magic in the air at the Van Gelder Studio on that night!

Although it has taken a while for "Straight No Filter" to finally resurface, good things do come to those who wait. Blue Note, for all of its corporate mentality, is doing as much for jazz now with its reissue program, as it did by recording this material in the first place back in the 50s and 60s. We owe it all to the wisdom of Michael Cuscuna -- send him a thank you note, he's earned it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mobley with all-star peers..., February 26, 2001

By	rbt_austin "rbt_austin" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

I picked up this Blue Note "connoisseur series" at my local cd shop and really love it. This album features various configurations of musicians, and in my opinion they are all-stars. Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, and Donald Byrd on trumpets, Herbie Hancock, Barry Harris, McCoy Tyner, and Andrew Hill on piano, and Billy Higgins or Philly Joe Jones on drums, Butch Warren, Paul Chambers, and Bob Cranshaw on bass. Throughout it all is Hank's fresh and inventive tenor sax. This release completes a number of sessions that resulted in his other legendary albums, so if you have a Hank Mobley collection you have to add this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Title mix-up, January 3, 2005

By	ajp (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

I think it's obvious that the titles got mixed up on this album. Track 1 is most likely "Chain Reaction," track 2 is certainly "Soft Impressions," and track 3 is most likely "Straight, No Filter." I can't believe this has never been corrected!
As for the music, McCoy Tyner has killer solos on the first two tracks.