Peckin' Time in Bloomington, MN

Tenor saxophonist
Hank Mobley
was overshadowed by more influential tenors such as
Sonny Rollins
and
John Coltrane
during his career, but although he wasn't deliberately flashy or particularly innovative, his concisely measured, round sax tone made him the perfect ensemble player and he was a fine writer, as well, a talent who has often been undervalued and overlooked. The
Peckin' Time
session was recorded February 9, 1958 (the LP was issued a year later) and came in the midst of what was a period of whirlwind creativity for
Mobley
, who recorded work for the
Savoy
Prestige
imprints as well as six full albums for
Blue Note
(two were never released -- it was not that uncommon for
to stockpile sessions at the time) in a little more than a year's time (later
albums like
Soul Station
Roll Call
were still well in the future). For this session,
found himself working with a young
Lee Morgan
on trumpet and in front of a fluid rhythm section that included pianist
Wynton Kelly
, bassist
Paul Chambers
, and drummer
Charlie Persip
, and it's solid stuff, bright and always energetic. All but one of the tracks, a rendering of
Kurt Weill
's
"Speak Low,"
were written by
, and again, his hidden strength was always his writing, and it should probably come as no surprise that the best two tracks here, the title tune
"Peckin' Time"
and the wonderful
"Stretchin' Out,"
were both penned by
. It all adds up to a fine program, and if
didn't push the envelope a whole lot, his lyrical and economical playing was always appropriate and graceful, and that's certainly the case here. ~ Steve Leggett