Here is a nice mix put together by a veritable jazz fanatic: yours' truly. It consists of what I feel are some of the hardest hitting hard-bob recordings of the early-to-mid-sixties on Blue Note Records, featuring songs from a number of Art Blakey and Hank Mobley releases. Why make such a mix and only include bands led by those two? Well, for one, Art Blakey is pretty much singularly the baron of hard-bop. And, Hank Mobley was the most rhythmic and beat-pursuing of all the saxophonists born out of the be-bop era. Undoubtedly, the years Hank Mobley spent alongside Blakey in the Jazz Messengers helped to crystallize his personal playing style.

Hard Bop Soliloquy (a Blue Note hard-bop mix):

1. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers --

 "Children of the Night" (From the 1961 record 'Mosaic')

"It's a Long Way Down" (Bonus track from the reissue of the 1964 record 'Indestructible')

3. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers -- 

"The Core" (From the 1964 record 'Free For All')

5. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers --

"Reincarnation Blues" (From the 1961 record 'Buhaina's Delight')

6. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers -- 

"Crisis" (From the 1961 record 'Mosaic')

"When Your Lover Has Gone" (Bonus track form the reissue of the 1960 record 'A Night in Tunisia')

8. Hank Mobley -- 

"Three Way Split" (From the 1963 record 'No Room For Squares')

9. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers -- 

"Mr. Jin" (From the 1964 record 'Indestructible')

10. Hank Mobley -- 

"Straight Ahead" (From the 1965 record 'The Turnaround!')

11. Hank Mobley -- 

"No Room for Squares" (From the 1963 record 'No Room For Squares')

**If you decide to piece this mix together from iTunes, make sure you download RVG re-issued versions or the most recent remasters.