Hank Mobley - No Room For Squares

Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition on 180-gram LP

In addition to boasting one of Reid Miles' greatest album cover designs, Hank Mobley's 1963 album No Room for Squares is also a marvel for the music alone. The tenor saxophonist had already notched several hard bop masterpieces in his Blue Note belt including Soul Station and Workout, but No Room for Squares was an even more ambitious effort that found Mobley elevating his game as a bandleader, improviser, and a composer.

The album was drawn from two different sessions each featuring a different quintet lineup. A March 7 date found Mobley with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Philly Joe Jones who deliver thrilling performances of the Mobley originals "Up a Step" and "Old World, New Imports." Mobley returned to Van Gelder Studio on October 2 with Jones once again on drums plus trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Andrew Hill, and bassist John Ore to lay down takes of Mobley's skittering tunes "Three Way Split" and "No Room for Squares" in addition to two remarkable Morgan tunes: the gorgeous ballad "Carolyn" and the grooving "Me ‘N You."

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal.

 

Side A

Three Way Split

Carolyn

Up a Step

Side B

No Room for Squares

Me 'N You

Old World, New Imports

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 1 person(s) rated this product.

Another winner from Blue Note posted on 12/09/2023 5 Stars Reviewer: W Taylor Great music (just check the lineup). The sound quality from these classics is so good it's hard to believe. There is almost no surface noise to go along with the wonderful sonic quality. The Tone Poets and the Classics from Blue Note are practically an addiction for me at this point!

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