A Slice Of The Top - Hank Mobley (1LP Vinyl)

A Slice Of The Top by Hank Mobley.

Step into the world of Hank Mobley with "A Slice Of The Top," a session that captures the tenor saxophonist at a moment of quiet ambition. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey on March 18, 1966, this record finds Mobley reaching beyond the familiar hard bop template and toward something more expansive, more textured, and altogether more adventurous.

The album opens with "Hank's Other Bag," a title that hints at exactly what unfolds across these grooves. This is Mobley stretching, exploring, following his instincts into new territory. From there, the mood softens into "There's A Lull In My Life," a ballad reading that shows off the warmth and roundness that made his tone so distinctive, before "Cute 'N Pretty" rounds out the A side with a lighter, more playful spirit.

Flip it over and the record deepens. "A Touch Of Blue" leans into the shadowy, contemplative side of Mobley's writing, the kind of piece that rewards close, unhurried listening. Then comes the title track, "A Slice Of The Top," a statement piece that anchors the whole session and gives the album its name. It is the sound of a musician confident enough to let a composition breathe and build.

Van Gelder's studio is a legend in its own right, and its fingerprints are all over this pressing. The clarity, the presence, the way each instrument sits in its own space; these are the hallmarks of a room that shaped the sound of an entire era of jazz. Playing this record is like sitting inside that New Jersey studio on a March afternoon in 1966, close enough to hear the reeds and the air moving through them.

For the pressing detail hunters, the runouts carry the 3972 etch, which was Rainbo Records' customer number tied to this release. It is the kind of small, telling mark that collectors love to trace, a fingerprint left behind in the wax that connects this object to the machinery that made it. These little details are part of what makes hunting vinyl so rewarding; the story lives in the grooves and in the margins alike.

Mobley remains one of the most quietly essential voices in the Blue Note tradition, a player whose reputation has only grown with time. "A Slice Of The Top" is a record for anyone who wants to hear him thinking, reaching, and doing more than the expected. It belongs on the shelf of any serious jazz collector, and on the turntable of anyone who simply wants to spend an evening in good company.

Pressing Details:
Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, New Jersey, on March 18, 1966.
The 3972 etch in the runouts was Rainbo Records' customer number for [l156370].

Track Listing:
A1. Hank's Other Bag
A2. There's A Lull In My Life
A3. Cute 'N Pretty
B1. A Touch Of Blue
B2. A Slice Of The Top

Artist: Hank Mobley

Format: 1LP

Genre: Jazz

Label: Blue Note

Catalog Number: LT-995

Release Year: 2009

Country: United States

Condition: Sealed (New)