1961 · Album
Another Workout
Recorded December 5, 1961 and March 26, 1961 · Blue Note · Produced by Michael Cuscuna
A Session That Waited Twenty-Four Years
Mobley with Kelly, Chambers, and Jones—four musicians who knew exactly what they were doing.
Another Workout sits in an odd place in Hank Mobley's catalog. The recording happened in 1961, split across two sessions, but Blue Note didn't release it until 1985. Most of the tracks came from December 5, 1961, with only "Three Coins in a Fountain" arriving earlier that year on March 26. That gap between creation and release—nearly a quarter century—is strange enough that producer Michael Cuscuna later called it "incomprehensible." It's worth wondering why the label sat on these tracks so long, though the music itself doesn't feel lost or rough around the edges.
What you get here is Mobley doing what he does best: steady, intelligent tenor playing over a tight rhythm section. Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums give the sessions a real swing. If you've heard Workout (1957), you'll notice this one drops Grant Green from the guitar chair, which shifts the sound slightly—the piano and rhythm section carry more weight without that extra harmonic color. Kelly was a reliable accompanist, never flashy, always there when you needed him. This is solid small-group jazz, the kind that doesn't demand your attention but rewards it if you give it.
Where does it fit? Not his peak—that's earlier, in the late 1950s. Not his most essential work either. But if you've already spent time with Mobley and want more of the same honest, unpretentious tenor playing, Another Workout scratches that itch. It's a working musician's session, recorded and then forgotten by accident. The delay of its release probably hurt it more than helped—by 1985, the style was already classic, not current. Still, the playing is there. That's what matters.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Hank Mobley
All 41 albums →
The musicians on this record
Kelly Blue 1959
Wynton Kelly
plays piano here
plays piano here
Blues for Dracula 1958
Philly Joe Jones
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
