1967 · Album
Third Season
Recorded February 24, 1967 · Blue Note · Produced by Unknown
A Session That Waited Thirteen Years to Breathe
Mobley and Morgan lock in tight, with Walton's piano anchoring everything—it's steady, working jazz.
Third Season catches Hank Mobley in February 1967 with a lineup that should have made noise immediately but instead sat in the vault for thirteen years. The session pairs him with Lee Morgan on trumpet, James Spaulding on alto, Cedar Walton on piano, Walter Booker on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and Sonny Greenwich on guitar—a solid ensemble with no obvious weak link. What you hear is professional, grounded post-bop without pretension. Mobley's tenor is warm and direct, Morgan's trumpet sits just right in the mix, and Walton's piano keeps everything honest and moving. Greenwich's guitar adds texture without getting in the way, which is harder than it sounds.
The puzzle here is timing. By 1967, Mobley was well-established but not at peak commercial moment, and this session captures him doing dependable work with strong players. It's not revolutionary—no one's reaching for new language or pushing boundaries—but that's not always the point. Sometimes jazz is about musicians who know how to play together, finding the groove and holding it. The rhythm section of Booker, Higgins, and Walton is particularly tight, the kind of foundation where a horn player can breathe and phrase naturally.
Catalogwise, this is not where you start with Mobley if you're new to him. His earlier Blue Note work, especially from the early 1960s, is where to begin. Third Season feels like a document from his middle years—solid, professional, worth hearing if you already dig Mobley and Morgan, but not essential. The thirteen-year delay before release suggests Blue Note itself didn't rush to put it out, which says something. Still, if you like straightforward tenor and trumpet conversations with no ego, no tricks, just playing, this delivers exactly that.
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Where next?
More by Hank Mobley
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The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
