In his musical life, there always seemed to be two Hank Mobleys. He spent most of his career as a sideman, uplifting the music of Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Miles Davis, Slide Hampton and Cedar Walton. But on records, his most significant work was as a leader for Blue Note. Mobley's round tone, flexibility and ability to write catchy melodies made him a popular figure for 15 years.

On Quintet, he is at the head of a group featuring musicians from both the Blakey and Silver bands including the two leaders. Mobley, who contributed all six compositions, is very much in control, performing the thoughtful and melodic yet stirring brand of hard bop that he most loved. Funk In Deep Freeze is the most famous of the songs but all are well worth reviving and enjoying.

Mobley and Art Farmer work off each other in subtle yet fiery fashion (they often seemed to think alike) and the Silver-Blakey reunion is a joyous occasion. Overall, the Hank Mobley Quintet sounds so tight and telepathic that it is almost like they played together four sets a night at Birdland rather than actually being a superb one-time get-together.

This pressing is on SRX Vinyl. SRX stands for “Silent Running Xperience.” SRX is our own proprietary formula, conceived and developed by Rick Hashimoto of Record Technology and manufactured by TPC Plastics. Its noise floor is fathoms lower than any other vinyl we know of out there past or present. Records pressed with it look like normal black discs until you hold them up to the light and see that they are translucent and smoky, silvery gray in color. The near-perfect silence of SRX Vinyl virtually frees the music from groove noise and draws you further into the listening space, setting it in relief so distinct, full and spacious it’s nearly sculptural. You hear more of what’s on the original tapes, not only of the notes played on the instruments but the experience of the event itself. That's why we call it Silent Running Xperience.

Like all Music Matters Jazz releases, this is cut from the original analog tapes, mastered by Ron Rambach and Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio, and pressed at Record Technologies Inc (RTI). The gorgeous gatefold jacket is from Stoughton Printing in City of Industry, California and includes exclusively licensed photos from the original session inside.

See more Hank Mobley records here.