This I Dig of You

"This I Dig of You" is an uptempo swing tune composed by tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley for his 1960 Blue Note album Soul Station, recorded on February 7, 1960 at Van Gelder Studio with Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. The session was famously captured in a single day with no alternate takes needed. The composition features a memorable, singable melody over a 32-bar form, with the A sections built on a pedal point that gives the harmony a slightly modal quality against an otherwise straightforward hard bop progression. The B sections introduce more chromatic movement through a series of ii-V progressions, providing contrast and improvisational interest. Mobley was described by critic Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone" for his balanced approach between the intensity of Coltrane and the lyricism of players like Stan Getz, and this tune reflects that sensibility — harmonically sophisticated but always accessible and deeply swinging. "This I Dig of You" has been recorded over fifty times and has become a standard in the jazz repertoire, frequently used in jazz education as an example of effective hard bop composition. Notable recordings include versions by the Jimmy Cobb Quartet and the Nat Adderley Quintet featuring Vincent Herring.