Hank D'amico

Anyone hoping that Hank Williams III's "Hellbilly" metal band Assjack would finally make it onto one of his albums is still out of luck, but Hank III's third solo effort Straight to Hell comes close to getting their no-quarter spirit onto plastic, if not their sound. Taking the no-frills hard-country sound of 2002's Lovesick, Broke & Driftin' as a starting point, Straight to Hell pumps a good bit more darkness into the mix; mostly recorded at home on a digital portastudio, Straight to Hell begins with a sample of the Louvin Brothers' "Satan Is Real" interrupted by a burst of demonic laughter, which then segues into the title tune, a testimony to a life of cheap thrills and dangerous living that sounds like a classic string band rounding the corners at 90-miles-an-hour with empty bottles of bourbon propping open the windows….

Hank Mobley - Eight Classic Albums (2013) {4CD Set Real Gone Jazz RGJCD262 rec 1955-1960}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.81 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 713 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955-60, 2013 Real Gone Jazz | RGJCD262 | Digitally Remastered & Enhanced
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

Four CD set containing eight albums from the Jazz legend. Includes the albums Hank Mobley Quartet, Tenor Conclave, Hank Mobley All Stars, Hank, Hank Mobley Quintet, Hank Mobley Sextet, Soul Station and Roll Call. With no disrespect toward Hawk, Bean, Prez, Trane, Rollins, Getz, Shorter, Henderson, Dexter and Brecker, Hank Mobley is the tenor player I listen to more than any other (were Sonny Stitt exclusively a tenor player, his recordings would be a close second, with Harold Land, Charlie Rouse, Oliver Nelson and Paul Gonsalves in the 3rd spot). Mobley doesn't so much "impress" as "seduce" the listener with ceaselessly melodic, lyrical, soulful inventions each time out. He was no "innovator" or trailblazer. Nor, like so many "showier" tenors, did he introduce "artifacts" into his sound–wobbles, growls, squeals and screeches, etc., approaches as common during the '30s and '40s as in the adventurous experimentation of modal and free players in the '60s and beyond.

Hank Mobley - The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (1998) {6CD Box Set, Mosaic MD6-181 rec 1955-1958}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.88 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 960 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 209 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955-58, 1998 Blue Note / Mosaic Records / EMI | MD6-181
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

This is a typically remarkable box set from Mosaic. The six-CD limited-edition package has all of tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley's recordings as a leader for Blue Note from a three-year period, all of the music originally included in the albums titled The Hank Mobley Quartet, Hank Mobley Sextet, Hank Mobley & His All-Stars, Hank Mobley Quintet, Hank, Hank Mobley, Curtain Call, Poppin', and Peckin' Time; not a lot of imagination went into these records' original titles.