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  • Albums produced by Alfred Lion
  • Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
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  • Hard bop albums
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    Soul Station

    From Wikipedia - Reading time: 8 min
    Not to be confused with Seoul Station.

    Soul Station
    Studio album by
    Hank Mobley
    ReleasedEarly October 1960[1]
    RecordedFebruary 7, 1960
    StudioVan Gelder Studio
    Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
    GenreHard bop
    Length37:23
    LabelBlue Note
    BLP 4031
    ProducerAlfred Lion
    Hank Mobley chronology
    Another Monday Night at Birdland
    (1959)     		Soul Station
    (1960)     		Roll Call
    (1960)

    Soul Station is an album by American jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded on February 7, 1960, and released on Blue Note later that year. Mobley's quartet features rhythm section Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Art Blakey.

    Background

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    Recording

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    Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio and rooted in the hard bop style, Mobley's quartet features Art Blakey (his past bandleader in the Jazz Messengers), and two bandmates from his time in the Miles Davis Quintet, Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers.

    Composition

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    The album's bookends are two standards, "Remember" by Irving Berlin and "If I Should Lose You" by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin. Between these standards are four new Mobley compositions, featuring the bluesy title track and the uptempo "This I Dig of You".

    Liner notes

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    In the liner notes to the Rudy Van Gelder CD edition, jazz critic Bob Blumenthal explains how the album is understood to be, for Mobley, what Saxophone Colossus or Giant Steps were for Sonny Rollins or John Coltrane respectively. Blumenthal goes on to describe the recording as "one of the finest programs of music on Blue Note or any other label."[2]

    Reception

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    Professional ratings
    Review scores
    SourceRating
    AllMusic[3]
    DownBeat[4]
    The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[6]
    The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[5]

    AllMusic reviewer Stacia Proefrock concluded: "Overall, this is a stellar set from one of the more underrated musicians of the bop era."[3]

    Pete Welding of DownBeat praised the album, calling it "a well-balanced and tasty blowing session that benefits from thoughtful preparation, [and which] finds the tenor saxophonist fronting a quartet composed of three of the finest rhythm men in the business."[4]

    Track listing

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    All compositions by Hank Mobley, except where noted.

    Side 1
    No.TitleWriter(s)Length
    1."Remember"Irving Berlin5:41
    2."This I Dig of You" 6:25
    3."Dig Dis" 6:08
    Side 2
    No.TitleWriter(s)Length
    1."Split Feelin's" 4:55
    2."Soul Station" 9:06
    3."If I Should Lose You"
    • Ralph Rainger
    • Leo Robin
    		5:08

    Personnel

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    Musicians

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    • Hank Mobley – tenor saxophone
    • Wynton Kelly – piano
    • Paul Chambers – bass
    • Art Blakey – drums

    Technical personnel

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    • Alfred Lion – producer
    • Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer, mastering
    • Reid Miles – cover design
    • Francis Wolff – photography
    • Joe Goldberg – liner notes

    Charts

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    Chart performance for Soul Station
    Chart (2021) Peak
    position
    Swedish Vinyl Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7] 5

    References

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    1. ^ "Reviews and Ratings...", Billboard. October 10, 1960.
    2. ^ Blumenthal, Bob. Soul Station. 1999, Blue Note Records 7243 4 95343 2 2, liner notes.
    3. ^ a b Soul Station at AllMusic
    4. ^ a b Welding, Pete (December 8, 1960). "Hank Mobley: Soul Station". DownBeat. p. 44.
    5. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 143. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
    6. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1013. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
    7. ^ "Veckolista Vinyl, vecka 15" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
    [edit]
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    Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul Station
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