If I Should Lose You (Hank Mobley’s version)

Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). From the album Soul Station (1960).

The very name “hard bop” indicates that the musicians of this new language learned from their bebop predecessors, but also took elements from gospel, rhythm and blues and popular music. This resulting mix contained the sophistication of modern jazz with a bluesy wiggle that will always remind you of the proletarian origin of this music.

The melodies tended to have their feet on the ground, but the musicians also resorted to the intricate explorations of bebop in the 1940s, while avoiding ornamentation. The rhythms had an impulse that showed their rebellion against the gentle moods of cool jazz, but the rhythm sections could also play danceable rhythms that their predecessors had avoided.

This theme has a catchy and relaxed melody, and after it’s presentation, Mobley begins his solo with moderate and well-structured bluesy phrases. He always prefers subtlety to large displays of emotion, dominating harmony at all times. Then Kelly comes in with a fluid, slow and creative solo, but occasionally adding faster phrases. Mobley returns to reexpose the theme with all his wit.