Scott Murphy Negotiated Project (10 Credits)

Aim:
I intend to transcribe and subse!uent"y ana"yse sa#ophonist $an% Mob"ey&s
impro'isation on the song &(emember )rom the 1*+0 ,P &Sou" Station& -ith
particu"ar attention to be paid to his harmonic rhythmic and moti'ic
impro'isations throughout this so"o and -hy it is a -or% o) great signi)icance
)i)ty years a)ter it&s re"ease.
Process:
/hrough a routine o) interna"ising Mob"ey&s so"o then -riting it do-n on
manuscript be)ore ana"ysing it -ith re)erence to a number o) important
theoretica" and historica" te#ts I )ee" as though I -i"" ha'e an )undamenta"
understanding o) the source materia".
0#ecution:
A"ong -ith this ana"ytica" paper is an attached manuscript o) Mob"ey&s
impro'isation (used throughout) in Concert pitch -ith chord symbo"s inc"uded.
/here -i"" a"so be an ora" seminar sty"e presentation uti"ising the computer
program 'Prezi' -herein i&"" discuss portions o) the materia" e#amined here -ith
the addition o) audio e#amp"es. (date and time pending)
An Ana"ysis o)
$an% Mob"ey&s Impro'isation on
Ir'ing 1er"in&s 2(emember3
1ac%ground
Hank Mobley was born Henry Mobley in Eastman Georgia on the 7
th
of July 1930. He grew up
within a musial family in !ewark an" at the age of 1# his unle bought him his first sa$ophone
"uring a perio" of illness whih onfine" him to his home. %his pro&e" to be his alling an" &ery
'uikly the self taught Mobley foun" himself hire" by (aul Gayten following a reommen"ation
from )a future* trumpet legen" +liffor" ,rown. -ith a growing a"miration for the melo"i
approah of .ester /oung0 Mobley en1oye" playing with ontemporaries of his hero in this perio"
an" soon after he was gi&en a all to play in Ma$ 2oah3s ban" with Miles 4a&is. %he "istintion of
this gig subse'uently le" to him performing with the Ellington 5rhestra )"espite his lak of ability
on the larinet*0 4i66y Gillespie an" Horae 7il&er3s group o8le" by 9rt ,lakey whih beame the
groun"8breaking Jazz Messengers. %his group pa&e" a whole new path of 1a66 musi terme" Har"8
bop. +ategorise" by blues infletions0 sophistiate" impro&isations an"0 at times an un"erlying funk
groo&e0 Har"8bop pro&e" to be a lan"mark for the "e&elopment of 1a66 following ,e8bop. 9lbums
suh as Moanin', Blue Train an" Somethin' Else are wi"ely remembere" an" ite" as some of the
best e$amples of the genre. :or me0 howe&er0 none of these albums swings as har" or groo&es as
well as Hank Mobely3s Soul Station whih is why this album an" Hank3s 32emember3 impro&isation
has to be my personal hoie for this stu"y.
; first got Soul Station when ; was beginning to listen to 1a66 properly at about the age of
si$teen after seeing the striking o&er whih was so ob&iously steepe" in reor" ompany ,lue
!ote3s signature style< with a blue8tinte" blak an" white photograph of Mobley hol"ing his
sa$ophone with one han" looking o&er1oye". His gleeful e$pression along with the fat that 9rt
,lakey3s name also appears on the o&er was enough for me to take the risk an" make this the
seon" purhase ; oul" affor" that week after also buying John +oltrane3s Blue Train reor".
%hrough hane ; en"e" up listening to Blue Train first whih apti&ate" me unlike any album ;3"
hear" before an" knoke" any i"eas ; ha" about listening to Soul Station right out of my hea". %he
1oyous sa$ophone wiel"ing blue8tinte" man ha" to make "o with olleting "ust on my "esk for
aroun" a month before ; re8"iso&ere" an" finally listene" to what he ha" to be so please" with.
=ery 'uikly ; realise" that please" he "efinitely shoul" ha&e been.
Soul Station is an album whih is often o&erlooke" when "isussions of the greatest 1a66
albums e&er are ha". (erhaps there is 1ustifiation for this to a point. :or me0 there3s a trak or two
whih aren3t 'uite up to the same stan"ar" as others an" maybe the album "oesn3t o&er a lot of
groun" ompositionally but ; inten" to show0 through analysis of 32emember3 that Hank is one of
the most talente" an" fun"amentally mo"el e$amples of a 1a66 musiian. 9s a sa$ophonist0 the
phrasing an" agility with whih he saunters through hor" hanges is inspiring for me as it
"oubtless is for thousan"s of other sa$ophonists an" will ontinue to be for many years to ome.
Ana"ysis
4a"" e#amp"es are -ithin the %ey o) Ab major
Mobley3s entire impro&isation is &ery muh e$ample after e$ample of melo"ies with a note har"ly
e&er put wrong. He ombines long phrases with short motifs to "e&elop i"eas within a short spae
of time before ontinuing an" starting on a whole new onept within the realms of Remember's
harmoni material. ;mme"iately from the solo break )the two bar perio" between the final 9 of the
melo"y an" the beginning of Mobley3s solo where he is totally unaompanie"* there is a lear
in"iation of key entre0 mo&ement an" a remarkably strong time8feel.
%his solo break says a lot about what is to ome in the rest of the impro&isation> lear melo"i
i"eas< a har" swing feel< intelligent use of hromatiisms within the onte$t of relate" hor" sales
an" a forwar" motion pursuing the ne$t set of material. :ollowing this he lea"s into four bars of
melo"i material whih showases the interesting hor" se'uene Mobley3s altere" the original
3hanges3 into for his arrangement. ?sing a "esen"ing bass8line from 4b @ + @ , @ ,b as a
basis he3s turne" a &ery mun"ane ;= A ;;;87 =7B;= A ;= A =7B;; hor" se'uene into ;= A =7C11B=;
A sub=7B;; A =7B= whih offers a plethora of interesting material for him to use.
,y using the 3
r"
of eah hor" as an anhor tone he buil"s a phrase an" repeats it for eah new bar
within this first four. His note hoies here "emonstrate his highly attune" sense of harmoni larity
with key notes from eah of the hor"3s relate" hor" sales hosen to "efine them harmonially as
well as onstrut this phrase whih he rhythmially repeats with alterations. ; &iew the e&olution of
this phrase as being almost akin to 3negati&e3 moti&i "e&elopment )in as muh as the original
phrase seems to "iminish in omple$ity whih is un"oubte"ly progression "espite the en" result
being more simple than the soure material it was born from*. %he plaement of this material is
interesting when onsi"ere" an" ompare" with seletions of his impro&isation further on in the
reor"ing o&er the same se'uene of hor"s>
+learly Mobley has earmarke" these hor"s in the pratise room as ones he an reate interesting
phrases aroun" an" buil" on. -hat3s also e&i"ent when looking at the impro&isation as a whole is
that these phrases rarely get "e&elope" past the point when the ,b87 hor" arri&es on bar fi&e of the
9 setion. %his is perhaps one of the most fun"amental ways in whih Mobley "iffers from other
sa$ophonists of the time suh as John +oltrane or 7onny 2ollins both of whom woul" regularly
take a theme or motif an" e$pan" upon it for minutes.
;n a style typial of the 3Har" ,op3 genre0 within whih Soul Station is normally ategorise"0
Mobley3s phrases ten" to be a mi$ of 3,e8,op3 an" 3,lues3 language but with the oasional "isplay
of both rhythmi an" harmoni oneptualisation whih woul"3&e been more at home within the
reor"ings of the 3-est +oast3 shool of 1a66 musiians.
,y playing notes suh as the , an" 9 on the 9b7 hor" Mobley is learly "isplaying his harmoni
interest in the altere" mo"e o&er "ominant hor"s. 9lthough tra"itionally use" on the "ominant
hor" within a minor =7 A ;8 se'uene0 Mobley utilises it 1ust as well here in a ma1or onte$t. %he
rhythmi interest of the bars in 'uestion here is &ast with synopate" antiipations0 triplets running
into 'ua&ers an" phrases being playe" o&er the bar8line to lea&e a "eliberate sense of ambiguity
about where the beats lie. ; think the phrase from the en" of bar eighty one to the beginning of
eighty three is a bol" an" e$tremely interesting one< by using the 9b as an pi&ot tone )the 11th of
Eb87 an" the root of 9b7* to buil" a phrase using the hromati notes either si"e of it is in itself an
a"&enturous phrase but to ompliment it by playing &arious types of triplets sub"i&i"e" o&er the
swing rhythmi feel is au"aiousD He puntuates the phrase with a smooth an" easy run of semi8
'ua&ers whih intentionally stik within the soun" of 4b ;onian to gi&e the listener a "ei"e"ly
easier piee of musi to grasp ahol" of. %his le&el of rhythmi omple$ity is sa&e" by Mobley an"
only gi&en a ouple of plaes within this impro&isation to really be the foal point.
5ne of my fa&ourite phrases in the entire impro&isation ours going into the 3
r"
horus
when he again hoses the triplet as a manipulati&e rhythmi "e&ie to obsure the bar8line an" the
safety of resol&ing bak to the home key at the top of a new horus. =ery few 1a66 musiians truly
"isplaye" suh suessful rhythmi phrases as this one>
E&erything from his bol" entry on beat two to the e$uberane with whih he hooses to play the
triplets is absolutely mesmerising for me. %hat the tra"itional rest point into a new horus is
ompletely ignore" an" influene" to the stage where it3s unreognisable as a resolution point is
almost a uni'ue e$ample in this impro&isation whih is perhaps why ; en1oy it so muh. He allosng
the listener to ath their breath an" rest on the last two beats of the E
n"
bar but this phrase0 on the
whole0 is a wi"ely "isorientating e$periene whih intro"ues a new type of interest right at the
beginning of the last form. Generally though0 rather than rhythmi influene0 he uses feel an"
augmentation of where the beat he3s playing is ompare" to the rhythm setion to pro&i"e more
e$pression within time8feel.
9s a player0 Mobley ten"s to play somewhere between right on the beat an" slightly behin"
"epen"ing on what sort of a phrase he3s playing. ;n the abo&e e$ample )an" in almost all of his
semi8'ua&er lines* he is absolutely mathing metronomially with the "rums. His fre'uent use of
triplets either asen"ing or "esen"ing at the beginning of phrases are sometimes appro$imations at
a triplet rather than a pure one< he3s using the effet of raing up to the first 3real3 note of the phrase
to buil" e$itement an" antiipation. %hese oasions are rare as oppose" to his more fre'uent use
of pulling the phrase behin" the beat< partiularly with swung 'ua&ers. %he first ouple of bars in
the seon" horus gi&e us a goo" "isplay of this sort of feel>
%he written e$ample "oesn3t really say enough if we3re "isussing the feel of these notes
unfortunately. E&en if ; ha" put more forms of artiulation or worke" out the e$ee"ingly omple$
sub"i&isions of the 'ua&ers abo&e it still woul"n3t 'uite be how he playe" them. %his is where his
feel really omes out. 5f the top tenor sa$ophonists there is a range in feel from guys like 4e$ter
Gor"on who ten"e" to play 'ua&ers so behin" the beat that he was almost a 'ua&er out to +oltrane
who was generally so on top of the beat he was almost ahea" of it. Mobley seems to take inspiration
from both shools of feel with a worl" lass ability to a"1ust his feel mi"8phrase. 9s ; sai" abo&e
this is 'uite a har" phenomenon to 'uantify whih fores somebo"y transribing to ha&e to rely on
&ague instrutions suh as F.a6yG>
5r Fbehin"G>
9s inommuniati&e as this kin" of phrasing is when seen written "own0 on tape it3s e$eptionally
e$pressi&e for a listener. -ith Mobley oming from an 23n3, bakgroun" this type of loution isn3t
surprising but it is han"le" with intelligent "iligene so as to remain an engaging brief moment to
ontrast the rest of the impro&isation.
His use of ghost notes but almost un"isguise" )in that they3re still &ery muh au"ible* as if
he3s playe" them with only 30H of the fore ompare" to the rest0 influenes the feel of a 'ua&er
note line hugely. ;n the e$ample below the notes whih ha&e an arrow abo&e them are notes whih
reei&e the 3ghosting but not 'uite3 treatment from Mobley>
+oming on the 3an" of3 four an" three respeti&ely0 they are almost use" more as a rhythmi motion
"e&ie to push onwar"s than as fun"ament notes within the phrase. Many other sa$ophonists ghost
notes in long 'ua&er lines but ; think i3&e yet to hear a sa$ophonist who uses this 3not 'uite3
tehni'ue whih is employe" so fre'uently an" effeti&ely as in this impro&isation.
9 ommon yet highly "e&elope" part of Mobley3s impro&isations is his ability to effeti&ely resol&e
to a new hor" with the use of enlosing hromati notes in three or four note ells. 9 running
theme of hromati approah notes resol&ing to a hor" tone on beat one of the bar is pre&alent
throughout his e$tempori6ation on the harmony.
%he abo&e e$amples are by no means an e$hausti&e list for this feature in this impro&isation but ;
think that they "o "isplay why Mobley3s phrases almost always seem to lea" to the absolutely
orret tonal soun" when entering a strong hor" on beat one. %his is &ery muh 3,e8,op3 language
whih isn3t surprising gi&en Mobley3s assoiation with players suh as 4i66y Gillespie0 Ma$ 2oah
an" his long term a"miration for the 3,op3 era3s "efining sa$ophonist +harlie (arker. %aken into
onte$t of what sort of language Mobley is using aroun" these 3,op3 ten"enies you start to see
where Mobley3s playing was going at this time of his life. 9n e$ellent showase of both mo"ern
an" tra"itional language whih Mobley "eals with is this e$ample from a partiularly "ense phrase
in the E
n"
horus>
,eginning this phrase with as 'uintessentially 3,e8,op3 a phrase as you an think of )he3s using the
,b ,e,op 7ale* Mobley takes the phrase into new territory by implying : .y"ian 4ominant o&er
the E
n"
half of the bar to lea" into ,b87. %he thing that makes Mobley so goo" in this situation is
how listenable the phrase is< this isn3t a +oltrane8es'ue substitution whih almost tries to offen" the
ears but it is playing a olletion of notes for alulate" effet in or"er to make the release of the
resolution point that muh more resonant to the listener.
Hank Mobley3s impro&isation on 32emember3 is one of my fa&ourite all time solos an" ; an 'uite
literally listen to it on repeat )as ; ha&e "one on numerous oasions in ollating an" e$plaining this
material*. His e$eptional ability to play melo"i phrases whih sel"om repeat is almost
unparallele" in impro&ise" musi an" the amount of 1a66 lihIs whih ha&e ome out of this solo
alone say muh about the sort of musiian Hank Mobley was. %he fat that he an reate suh
melo"ious musi of great interest without ha&ing to go abo&e Eb )a lassi sa$ophone trik to
artifiially reate e$itement at "ei"e"ly uninteresting moments A though not alwaysD* is testament
to the 'uality of his i"eas an" genuine &irtuosi musial min". %hrough his soun" )all at one
powerfully asserti&e an" "eliately &el&ety* an" tehni'ue he3s able to on&ey so many e$pressions
an" e&oati&e narrati&es within the onte$t of simple harmoni language that ; am0 an" will
ontinue to be0 won"erfully taken abak e&ery time ; hear one of his ingeniously onstrute"
horuses.
-hile probably not as ob&iously influential as 7tan Get60 +harlie (arker or .ester /oung0 ;
like to belie&e that the musi Hank Mobley reate" has ha" a ma1or impat )"iretly or otherwise*
on generations of 1a66 musiians beause of his language0 feel an" the many other theoretial
sub1ets i3&e brought up here. 9s well as that ; think he embo"ies the spirit of the mo"ern "ay 1a66
musiian in his reati&e take on establishe" musial i"eas to in&ent new onepts< the style with
whih he stri&e" to beome the player that he wante" to be through his use of melo"i an" rhythmi
i"eas an" by the fat that he playe" with hun"re"s of musiians on hun"re"s of gigs before he e&en
got near to what he was aiming for. -here he en"e" up musially with this impro&isation is what
impresses me most about Hank Mobley an" why ; belie&e he3ll remain an inspiration.
1ib"iography
(ecordings
Mobley0 H.0 19#00 Soul Station0 ,lue !ote 2eor"s
Mobley0 H.0 19#00 Roll Call0 ,lue !ote 2eor"s
Mobley0 H.0 19J30 The Max Roach Quartet Featuring an! Moble"0 4ebut
Mobley0 H.0 19JK0 orace Sil#er $n% The Jazz Messengers0 ,lue !ote 2eor"s
Mobley0 H.0 19#10 &or!out0 ,lue !ote 2eor"s
4a&is0 M.0 19#10 Some%a" M" 'rince &ill Come0 +olumbia
+oltrane0 J.0 19#0 )release" 19#1*0 M" Fa#ourite Thing, 9tlanti 2eor"s
+oltrane0 J.0 19#0 )release" 19#K*0 M" Fa#ourite Things, 9tlanti 2eor"s
Gor"on0 4.0 )19#E*0 ()*, ,lue !ote 2eor"s
/oung0 ..0 )19JE*0 +ester ,oung -ith the )scar 'eterson Trio0 Hi8:i 2eor"ing
Get60 7.0 )19JL*0 Jazz (iants0 =er&e 2eor"s
(arker0 +.0 )19K9*0 The Com.lete Charlie 'ar!er on /er#e0 =er&e
1oo%s
9nsell0 4.0 E00L &or!out0 The Music o1 an! Moble", !orthway (ubliations
2esoenthal0 4.H.0 199E ar% Bo.0 Jazz an% Blac! Music 2344523640 5$for" ?ni&ersity (ress
.e&ine0 M.0 199J0 The Jazz Theor" Boo!, 7her Musi +o.
,erliner0 (.:.0 199K0 Thin!ing 7n Jazz0 The 7n1inite $rt o1 7m.ro#isation0 %he ?ni&ersity of +hiago
(ress
5ther Sources
:92.E/0 Jeff )E00L* 3Making 9meriaMs Musi> Ja66 History an" the Ja66 (reser&ation 9t3
?ni&ersity of Glasgow %hesis
9uthor unknown0 19730 Hank Mobley ;nter&iew 4ownbeat Maga6ine ;nter&iew Na&ailable onlineO
http>BBwww.hankmobley.netBbiographyBmobley8inter&iewB an"
http>BBwww.angelfire.omBretroBultBultBmusiBmobleyP"ownbeat.htm Nfirst aesse" E7B1EB13O
.iebman0 ..0 /ear of publiation unlear0 J9QQ 2H/%HM by 49=;4 .;E,M9! NonlineO
http>BBwww."a&eliebman.omBeartilesE.phpR45+P;!7%SL Nfirst aesse" E1B1EB13O