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01. Reach Out (I'll Be There) (6:49)
02. Up, Over, And Out (5:52)
03. Lookin' East (5:19)
04. Goin' Out Of My Head (7:26)
05. Good Pickin's (5:31)
06. Beverly (7:01)
Reach Out was one of the few times Hank Mobley left behind driving,
aggressive hard bop, choosing to concentrate on lightly grooving bop
and soul-jazz instead. Essentially, the session resulted in the most
commercially oriented record he made, complete with two pop covers
("Reach Out (I'll Be There)," "Goin' Out of My Head") and a laidback,
swinging vibe. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but the band
-- an impressive lineup of Woody Shaw (trumpet, flugelhorn), George
Benson (guitar), Lamont Johnson (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass) and Billy
Higgins (drums) -- sounds constrained by the material and their desire
to make the music appeal to a wide audience. Things rarely are worse
than on "Reach Out," where the group not only fails to lay down a
groove, but they often sound on the verge of falling apart, especially
during Higgins' poorly timed breaks. They recover shortly afterward,
but no one sounds particularly enthusiastic, including Mobley. In
fact, Mobley's presence on the record feels strangely minimal. Only
during "Good Pickin's" -- a laidback bop original that's easily the
best thing here -- does he come alive, weaving a spell with long,
liquid lines, but its subtle grace just illustrates the problems with
this curiously bland record.
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