Saxophone Legends and Their Setups: Hank Mobley

“When I finally saved up enough money to buy my first saxophone, the music store went on vacation for a month. In the meantime, I got a music book, and by the time the store reopened, I already knew the whole instrument: all I had to do was put it in my mouth and play.”

That’s how Hank Mobley recalled it in one of the few interviews that were ever recorded. A simple anecdote, yet it perfectly reflects the character of this saxophonist: methodical, sensitive, with a laid-back but precise phrasing. That same attitude shaped his playing, his sound choices, and the development of a musical language that left an indelible mark on the history of hard bop.

It’s time to dive into Hank Mobley’s world through the saxophone and mouthpiece setups he used throughout his career. A tenor saxophonist who helped Blue Note Records become the iconic label it is today thanks to his recordings.

That golden age of pure hard bop—championed alongside John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins—began in the mid-1950s, when Mobley was playing as a sideman in Horace Silver’s group on the album “And the Jazz Messengers”. This band would later evolve into Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, one of the most legendary lineups in jazz history.

Soul Station (1960)—what a swinging album! This is a record that no home that appreciates good music should be without, and even less so any modern music school around the world. Passion, rhythm, phrasing, language… all masterfully expressed in every solo by Hank Mobley. It’s always inspiring to revisit this album time and again—it never fails to offer a special atmosphere.

Now let’s get into the real subject of this post: saxophones and mouthpieces!

Like Coltrane and Rollins, Mobley started out with American-made instruments like Martin or King. We don’t know exactly what his first sax was, but it was likely an alto, given his admiration for Charlie Parker, before eventually switching to tenor sax.

According to our humble research, we can trace Mobley’s setups from around 1955, when he played a King Super 20 with a Brilhart hard rubber mouthpiece—the gear he used to record And the Jazz Messengers with Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Art Blakey, and Doug Watkins. In the following photo, you can see the contemplative posture of a young Mobley:

As expected for a 1950s jazz saxophonist, Mobley also experimented with Otto Link metal mouthpieces. Here he is again with the same King Super 20 but this time with an Otto Link Double Ring mouthpiece:

Later on, he adopted the holy grail of Selmer saxes: the Super Action from the early era (pre-1952), before the bell keys were redesigned to include a combined B and Bb guard. Here he is relaxing on a couch with his Selmer SBA and, once again, a Brilhart mouthpiece:

It’s also worth noting that Hank Mobley may have been a pioneer of the “saxophonist-in-sunglasses” look—whether on stage or in the studio. A fun topic for future research ;-)

And again, Mobley wasn’t the first saxophonist to hold fond memories of his early horns. Just like Sonny Rollins had a soft spot for a Buescher from his youth, Mobley cherished his Martin Committee III at the end of his career. Here it is:

In short, exploring Hank Mobley’s saxophones and mouthpieces is like flipping through a photo album of modern jazz. Each instrument, each sonic choice, brings us closer to his unique universe: warm, rhythmic, deeply human. Because beyond the metal and the ebonite, what endures is that sound that defined an era—still whispering in our ears today with the grace of someone who never needed to show off. And so, between Brilharts and Otto Links, between Selmers and Kings, the voice of a giant was forged—sunglasses or not, always a beacon for generations of musicians.