Customer Reviews

Turnaround

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first, a note about the reissue-- it is different from the vinyl version!! blue note reworked this album, "no room for squares" and "straight no filter" to better represent the recording sessions that resulted in the albums. that being said, this cd is wonderful! it reveals mr. mobley as a songwriter, something often overlooked in surveys of his career. on this set, we find him exploring both cookers and ballads, and tinkering with form, often exploding the standard 32 bar format of most jazz tunes. the songs themselves are tight and swinging. particular highlights are the title track, a blues vamp full of that unique blue note soul; the cooking "east of the village" and "straight ahead," which are both classic workouts with excellent soloing. the ballads ("the good life" and "my sin") are mellow and rich like coffee by candlelight. an interesting note is that tracks 1, 4-6 and 2-3 are by different bands, but the same format. this gives a golden opportunity to compare some other blue note artists. the first band features guests freddie hubbard on trumpet and gene harris on piano, while the second brings in kenny dorham and herbie hancock on trumpet and piano, respectively. both bands are solid and click together. a fine album.

As Bob Blumenthal points out in his liner note, the two sessions included here are especially instructive in understanding Mobley's evolution as a player. The 1963 tracks are from the "middle period" exemplified by "Soul Station," in which he perfected his smooth "round sound." On the '65 tracks his tone is sharper and harder, his phrases shorter. Like Blumenthal I prefer the earlier stuff, but there's certainly nothing wrong with the later session (except maybe for the title track, which is one of those rinky-dink "Sidewinder" clones that seemed to lead off every Blue Note date between about '63 and '66.) His reading of "The Good Life" is especially moving. in the original liner notes Mobley says that he'd like to record an album of ballads; this performance makes me wish he'd actually done so. You should, of course, start your Mobley collection with "Soul Station," but this one makes a nice second or third choice.

Hank Mobley's "The Turnaround" was originally issued on CD in the late 80s but was inexplicably deleted shortly thereafter. Thankfully it makes a permanent return to the Blue Note catalog in the RVG series, although in a slightly different format. On the initial CD versions of "No Room For Squares," "The Turnaround" and "Straight, No Filter" songs were rearranged to match their original recording sessions, instead of matching the original vinyl releases. The discs in the RVG series return to the LP sequencing, and for the Mobley titles this is a good thing. The reason being that two of the tunes included on this new version of "The Turnaround" -- "East Of The Village" and "The Good Life" -- were originally only available on "Straight, No Filter," a long out-of-print Blue Note CD [that has recently been reissued]. But enough about the obscure history of this disc, the music is fantastic. For knowledgeable fans of Hank Mobley, the material falls somewhere between "Dippin'" and "A Caddy For Daddy" style-wise, which makes sense since these recordings are all from 1965. Those not familiar with Mobley should probably start with "Soul Station," but "The Turnaround" will not disappoint either.

If you're a Mobley fan (I confess I'm pretty much a completist when it comes to Hank), you'll probably want to add this one to your collection. The title tune is quite negligible, a "Sidewinder" wannabe, but there is much of compositional and solo worth on each of the other five tracks. "The Good Life" is some of the warmest Mobley on record, and "Pat 'N Mike" is an ingenious and infectious Mobley melody featuring a inspired Freddie Hubbard trumpet solo ahead of Hank's equally strong turn. The liner notes make some inane comment about the difference between the 1963 and 1965 sessions represented on this disc as demonstrating the "evolution" in Mobley's playing, but the tenor giant sounds equally compelling on both occasions (though his later attempts to come up with a "harder, hipper" sound would eventually contribute to his undoing).

I wouldn't purchase "The Turnaround" ahead of "Soul Station" or "Workout" or, for that matter, the Jazz Messengers' or Miles Davis' dates with Hank Mobley on Columbia/Sony or the Donald Byrd sessions with Hank that were recorded originally on Transition. But it's a solid outing, more vital and electrifying than the recently reissued "Hi Voltage."

[If you have an earlier edition, by all means take a pass on this remastered "RVG Edition," on which sound imaging is non-existent, with the notable exception of "The Good Life." On the other tunes tenor is confined to the left channel, trumpet to the right. Count yourself fortunate if you have a playable monaural LP.]

This is my favorite Mobley recording and I own all of his records, it's something about this session that's special 'The Turnaround' sounds just as good as the 'Sidewinder' not taking anything form Lee Morgan and then my favorite track 'East Of The Village' is worth the price of admission by itself but then Mobley plays some of his best ballads on this album covering 'Good Life' beautifully along with 'My Sin' and then probally his best written hard bop numbers with 'Straight Ahead' and 'Pat n' Chat' just listen to Mobley play the changes on 'Pat n' Chat' enough of my ramblin' just get it, essential recording.

Hank Mobley is really on of the few unsung giants in jazz. When other so called "stars" are eager to impose their own twisted personality to music Hank Mobley let's the music speak on it's own terms.The result is pure music. Listen to "East of The Village" to see my point. This track has one of Hank`s most awesome solos ever committed to disc. But the whole album is a joy as there is not one weak link in the line-up. This alongside "No Room for Squares" is my personal favourite Hank Mobley album.