Artist: Hank Mobley

Henry "Hank" Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist  and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Lester Young, and his style that was laid-back, subtle and melodic, especially in contrast with players like Coltrane and Sonny Rollins.

At 19, he started to play with local bands in Newark, New Jersey, and, months later, worked for the first time with musicians like Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. Roach introduced Mobley to the New York jazz scene in 1951, and over the next two years the latter began composing and recording tunes of his own. He was a member of the Duke Ellington  Orchestra and multiple R&B bands during this period. When Parker heard Mobley's playing, he advised the young musician to take more influence from blues music. 

In April of 1953, he was hired by Max Roach to play on the album released as The Max Roach Quartet featuring Hank Mobley. He later appeared on two Roach sessions recorded in 1957 and 1958 for EmArcy records. 

Shortly after working with Roach, he began working regularly with another drummer and bandleader, Art Blakey. He and Blakey took part in one of the earliest hard bop sessions, alongside pianist Horace Silver, bassist Doug Watkins and trumpeter  Kenny Dorham. The results of these sessions were released as Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers.