Hank Mobley - To One So Sweet, Stay That Way (2017)

One more surprise from DJA, a complete never-before-heard performances by Hank Mobley, backed by Dutch players in three different sets taped live at the Bellevue theater in Amsterdam, at VARA studio in Hilversum and at the JazzClub B14 in Rotterdam. Mobley is accompanied by the brilliant pianist Pim Jacobs and drummer wizard Han Bennink in its only known collaboration to date.

A lost smoker from the legendary tenorist Hank Mobley – recorded relatively late in his career, at a time when his music on Blue Note was really taking some great new directions! The approach here is maybe a bit more straightforward than those records, but still completely amazing – as Mobley's soloing with all these unusual twists and turns, and phrasing that you never would have heard a few years before – all while working with a variety of Dutch backing combos on these live performances from the Netherlands in 1968! One group features Pim Jacobs on piano, Wim Overgaauw on guitar, Ruud Jacobs on bass, and future avant legend Han Bennink on drums – and another features the great Rob Agerbeek on piano, with Hans Van Rossem on bass and Cees See on drums. There's also two studio performances with the larger Hobby Orkest ensemble – quite an unusual setting for Hank, and a great one too – and titles include "Summertime", "Twenty Four & More", "Three Way Split", "Vierd Blues", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was", "Sonny's Tune", "Autumn Leaves", and "Blues By Five".