Hank Mobley: I Should Care

    Hank Mobley
Artwork by Michael Symonds

Hard bop and ballads were strange bedfellows. Many hard-bop drummers didn't own wire brushes for their snares, preferring sticks the size of Hank Aaron's bat. Another Hank, surnamed Mobley, was one hard-bop stalwart with a soft spot for pretty tunes. Moreover, at the time of this recording, Hank and his cohorts were either current or former sidemen of Miles Davisa preeminent balladeer. Even when resorting to the jazzman's time-honored recourse of double-timing over a slow tempo, as he does here, Mobley's slightly overcast tone was mobilized in the service of lyricism. And, yes, Philly Joe uses brushes. Another knockout.