Long underestimated, American saxophonist Hank Mobley finally left his mark on
the course of hard bop with his distinctive, nonchalant and subtle sound. Born
in Eastman, Georgia, on July 7, 1930, he grew up in New Jersey, where, with an
operatic grandmother and a multi-instrumentalist uncle, he first taught himself
the piano and then the saxophone. Joining Paul Gayten's rhythm'n'blues band at
the age of 19, he was taken in hand by Max Roach, before accompanying Duke
Ellington, Tadd Dameron and Dizzy Gillespie, then Horace Silver and Art Blakey
in the Jazz Messengers at the end of...