Backgrounder: Hank Mobley - Soul Station (1960)

Soul Station was Hank Mobley's finest album. The trio behind him on the Blue Note release was tough, sensitive and swinging, and the song choices make this a perfect album. The four originals by the tenor saxophonist are among his best, and the two standards chosen are in the pocket for this quartet.

Recorded in February 1960, the album featured Hank Mobley (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Art Blakey (d). The drive is fired up by Blakey, the swinging is fortified by Kelly's soulful blues and the tenderness comes from Chambers, loud and clear. On top of this fast-moving undertow is Mobley, who glides through songs with a smokey fluidity, working through solos with energetic ease.

Here's the complete Soul Station by Hank Mobley...