One of Mobley's best, this album features two 1963 all-star quintets, one with Lee Morgan and Andrew Hill, the other with Donald Byrd and Herbie Hancock. Philly Joe Jones is the driving force throughout. No Room For Squares consists of five original compositions from the legendary tenor and one from Lee Morgan.

• Limited Edition
• Numbered Edition
• Mastered from the Original Analog Master Tapes
• Cut by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman
• Mastered at AcousTech
• 2LP 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl 45rpm
• Pressed by RTI USA

"By 1963, Mobley had undergone a transformation of tone. Replacing the scintillating airiness of his late '50s sides was a harder, more strident, almost honking one, due in part to the influence of John Coltrane and in part to Mobley's deeper concentration on the expressing blues feeling in his trademark hard bop tunes. The CD version of this album sets the record straight, dropping some tunes form a session months earlier and replacing them with alternate takes of the title cut and "Carolyn" for historical integrity, as well as adding "Syrup and Biscuits" and "Comin' Back." Mobley assembled a crack band for this blues-drenched hard-rollicking set made up of material written by either him or trumpeter Lee Morgan. Other members of the ensemble were pianist Andrew Hill, drummer Philly Joe Jones, and bassist John Ore. The title track, which opens the set, is a stand-in metaphor for the rest: Mobley's strong and knotty off-minor front-line trading fours with Hill that moves into brief but aggressive soloing for he and Morgan and brings the melody back, altered with the changes from Hill.

On Morgan's "Me 'n' You," an aggressive but short bluesed-out vamp backed by a mutated samba beat, comes right out of the Art Blakey book of the blues and is articulated wonderfully by Mobley's solo, which alternates between short, clipped phrases along the line of the changes and longer trill and ostinatos where the end of a musical line is dictated by his breath rather than a chord change. Morgan is in the pocket of the blue shades, coloring the ends of his lines with trills and short staccato bursts, warping them in Hill's open, chromatic voicings. All eight cuts here move with similar fluidity and offer a very gritty and realist approach to the roots of hard bop. Highly recommended." - Thom Jurek, All Music

Musicians:

Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone
Andrew Hill, piano
John Ore, bass
Philly Joe Jones, drums
Donald Byrd, trumpet
Herbie Hancock, piano
Lee Morgan, trumpet
Butch Warren, bass

Track Listing:

1. Three Way Split
2. Carolyn
3. No Room For Squares
4. Me 'N You
5. Up A Step
6. Old World, New Imports

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫