Hank Mobley Soul Station on XRCD

Mastered to XRCD from Rudy Van Gelder's Original Two-Track Analog Master Tapes

One of the Best-Sounding Digital Releases You Will Ever Hear

1960 Set is Mobley's Peak Effort: Warm, Intricate, Dynamic

If the title of "Mr. Blue Note" had been given out to a performer, tenor-saxophonist Hank Mobley would have been its recipient. Mobley's smooth tone and style defined the hard bop era. He put plenty of emotion and intensity into every note he played. During 1955-70, Blue Note's greatest years, Mobley led 25 Blue Note albums and appeared as a  sideman on many others. Soul Station, a quartet gem from 1960, is unusual in that Mobley is the only horn, heading an all-star group that includes pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey. This recording features Hank Mobley at the peak of his powers, taking lengthy solos full of passion, drive, and imagination. His four originals include his most famous composition, "This I Dig Of You," which he squeezes for every ounce of expressive power. Mobley also plays with heartbreaking lyricism on "If I Should Lose You," a jazz standard. If proof were ever needed of Hank Mobley's greatness, Soul Station is perfect evidence. Warm, intricate, and dynamic, this is what classic hard-bop jazz is all about.

In handling one of jazz's all-time best-sounding recordings, Rudy Van Gelder's original Blue Note two-track analog tapes were meticulously mastered to XRCD by engineer Alan Yoshida and producer Joe Harley. This XRCD comes with deluxe hardbound book-style packaging with original liner notes and high resolution B&W session photos. The package is alone worth the investment. Sonically, this edition of Soul Station represents the highest-quality analog to digital transfer from tape to CD available, and is among the finest digital releases you will ever hear.

"...thanks to the XRCD process and the care that was taken transferring these albums directly from the original analog masters, these CDs have to be approaching the limit of what the compact disc is capable of resolving. Instrument timbre is stunningly real, and the amount of air and decay present on these recordings will make the uninitiated swear that there is a record playing on a turntable somewhere. I’ve never heard this music sound this good in any digital format."
-Jeff Dorgay, TONE Audio, Issue 26

“At $30 a pop, these XRCDs are expensive, although not as pricey as the same $50 vinyl sets! And while they may not equal the breathtaking sonics of the vinyl discs, they come very close. So close, in fact, that during one of my listening sessions I was prepared to get up and flip the LP to Side 2 – except I wasn’t listening to an LP but to an Alan Yoshida-mastered XRCD!”
- Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, June/July 2010
 
“JVC has examined the each step in XRCD CD mastering and manufacturing processes and designed specific equipment to improve those processes. Every combination of equipment, connections, AC power regulation, clocking, mastering format, and compact disc construction was evaluated technically and by listening tests.”
- Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound, June/July 2010

Hank Mobley Soul Station Track Listing:

1. Remember
2. This I Dig of You
3. Dig Dis
4. Split Feelin's
5. Soul Station
6. If I Should Lose You