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Blue Mitchell

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Blue Mitchell
Mitchell performing in Amsterdam, 1959
Mitchell performing in Amsterdam, 1959
Background information
Birth nameRichard Allen Mitchell
Born(1930-03-13)March 13, 1930
Miami, Florida, U.S.
DiedMay 21, 1979(1979-05-21) (aged 49)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentTrumpet
Years active1952 – 1979
Labels

Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979)[1] was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and Blue Note.[2]

Early life

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Mitchell was born and raised in Miami, Florida, United States.[2] He began playing trumpet in high school, with the nickname "Blue".[2]

Career

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After high school, he played in the rhythm & blues ensembles of Paul Williams, Earl Bostic, and Chuck Willis.[2] He returned to Miami and was heard by Cannonball Adderley, with whom he recorded for Riverside Records in New York in 1958.[2]

Mitchell then joined the Horace Silver Quintet,[2] playing with tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Roy Brooks. Mitchell stayed with Silver's group until the band's break-up in 1964, after which Mitchell formed a group with members from the Silver quintet, substituting the young pianist Chick Corea for Silver and replacing Brooks, who had fallen ill, with drummer Al Foster.[2] This group produced a number of records for Blue Note.[2] It disbanded in 1969, after which Mitchell joined and toured with Ray Charles until 1971.[2]

From 1971 to 1973 Mitchell performed with John Mayall, appearing on Jazz Blues Fusion and subsequent albums.[2] From the mid-1970s, he recorded and worked as a session man in the genres noted previously, performed with the big band leaders Louie Bellson, Bill Holman, and Bill Berry, and was the principal soloist for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne.[2] Other band leaders Mitchell recorded with are Lou Donaldson, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon, and Jimmy Smith.

Death

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Mitchell performed with the Harold Land quintet[2] until he died from cancer on May 21, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, aged 49.[3]

Discography

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As leader/co-leader

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Recording date Title Label Year released Notes
1958-07 Big 6 Riverside 1958
1958-10 Get Those Elephants Out'a Here MetroJazz 1959 with Red Mitchell, Whitey Mitchell and André Previn
1959-01 Out of the Blue Riverside 1959
1959-09 Blue Soul Riverside 1959
1960-08 Blue's Moods Riverside 1960
1960-12,
1961-03 		Smooth as the Wind Riverside 1961
1962-03 A Sure Thing Riverside 1962
1962-08 The Cup Bearers Riverside 1962
1963-08 Step Lightly Blue Note 1980
1964-07 The Thing to Do Blue Note 1965
1965-07 Down with It! Blue Note 1966
1966-01 Bring It Home to Me Blue Note 1967
1966-11 Boss Horn Blue Note 1967
1967-11 Heads Up! Blue Note 1968
1968-09 Collision in Black Blue Note 1969
1969-05 Bantu Village Blue Note 1969
1971-03 Blue Mitchell
(aka Soul Village) 		Mainstream 1971
1971-06 Vital Blue Mainstream 1971
1972 Blues' Blues Mainstream 1972
1972 The Last Tango = Blues Mainstream 1973
1973-03-01 Graffiti Blues Mainstream 1973
1974 Many Shades of Blue Mainstream 1974
1975 Stratosonic Nuances RCA 1975
1976 Funktion Junction RCA 1976
1977-04-14 Mapenzi Concord Jazz 1977 with Harold Land
1977-04-28, -29 Stablemates Candid 1977
1977 African Violet Impulse! 1978
1977 Summer Soft Impulse! 1978

As sideman

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Year recorded Leader Title Label Year released
1952–54 Lou Donaldson Quartet/Quintet/Sextet Blue Note 1957
1958 Cannonball Adderley Portrait of Cannonball Riverside 1958
1959 Horace Silver Finger Poppin' Blue Note 1959
1959 Philly Joe Jones Drums Around the World Riverside 1959
1959 Horace Silver Blowin' the Blues Away Blue Note 1959
1959 Philly Joe Jones Showcase Riverside 1959
1959 Lou Donaldson The Time Is Right Blue Note 1960
1959–60 Jackie McLean Jackie's Bag Blue Note 1961
1960 Sam Jones The Soul Society Riverside 1960
1960 Jimmy Smith Open House Blue Note 1968
1960 Jimmy Smith Plain Talk Blue Note 1968
1960 Jackie McLean Capuchin Swing Blue Note 1960
1960 Charlie Rouse Takin' Care of Business Jazzland 1960
1960 Horace Silver Horace-Scope Blue Note 1960
1960 Bobby Timmons Soul Time Riverside 1960
1960 Jackie McLean & Tina Brooks Street Singer Blue Note 1980
1960 Tina Brooks Back to the Tracks Blue Note 1998
1960 Sonny Red Breezing Jazzland 1961
1961 Sam Jones The Chant Riverside 1961
1961 Philly Joe Jones and Elvin Jones Together! Atlantic 1961
1961 Horace Silver Doin' the Thing Blue Note 1961
1961 Elmo Hope Homecoming! Riverside 1961
1961 Junior Cook Junior's Cookin' Jazzland 1961
1961 Sonny Red Images Jazzland 1962
1961 Les McCann Les McCann Ltd. in New York Pacific Jazz 1962
1962 Red Garland Red's Good Groove Jazzland 1962
1962 Horace Silver The Tokyo Blues Blue Note 1962
1962 Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass Atlantic 1963
1962 Sam Jones Down Home Riverside 1962
1963 Harold Vick Steppin' Out! Blue Note 1963
1963 Horace Silver Silver's Serenade Blue Note 1963
1963 Stanley Turrentine A Chip Off the Old Block Blue Note 1964
1963 Freddie Roach Good Move! Blue Note 1963
1963–64 Horace Silver Song for My Father Blue Note 1965
1964 Stanley Turrentine In Memory Of Blue Note 1979
1965 Big John Patton Oh Baby! Blue Note 1965
1965 George Benson Benson Burner Columbia 1967
1966 Joe Zawinul Money in the Pocket Atlantic 1966
1966 Harold Vick The Caribbean Suite RCA Victor 1967
1966 Stanley Turrentine Rough 'n' Tumble Blue Note 1966
1966 Richard "Groove" Holmes Soul Mist! Prestige 1970
1966 Stanley Turrentine The Spoiler Blue Note 1967
1967 Stanley Turrentine A Bluish Bag Blue Note 2007
1967 Stanley Turrentine The Return of the Prodigal Son Blue Note 2008
1967 Hank Mobley Hi Voltage Blue Note 1968
1967 Lou Donaldson Mr. Shing-A-Ling Blue Note 1968
1968 Lou Donaldson Midnight Creeper Blue Note 1968
1968 Yusef Lateef The Blue Yusef Lateef Atlantic 1968
1968 Cedar Walton Spectrum Prestige 1968
1968 Don Patterson Opus De Don Prestige 1968
1968 Jimmy McGriff The Worm Solid State 1968
1968 Lou Donaldson Say It Loud! Blue Note 1969
1968 Jimmy McGriff Step 1 Solid State 1969
1968 Harold Mabern Rakin' and Scrapin' Prestige 1969
1969 Cedar Walton The Electric Boogaloo Song Prestige 1969
1969 Charles Kynard The Soul Brotherhood Prestige 1969
1969 Jimmy McGriff A Thing to Come By Solid State 1969
1969 Jimmy McGriff Electric Funk Blue Note 1970
1969–70 Lou Donaldson Everything I Play Is Funky Blue Note 1970
1970 Ray Charles My Kind of Jazz Tangerine 1970
1970 Grant Green Green Is Beautiful Blue Note 1970
1970 Lou Donaldson Pretty Things Blue Note 1970
1970 David "Fathead" Newman Captain Buckles Cotillion 1971
1971 Stanley Turrentine The Sugar Man CTI 1975
1971 John Mayall Jazz Blues Fusion Polydor 1972
1972 Papa John Creach Filthy! Grunt 1972
1972 John Mayall Moving On Polydor 1972
1973? John Mayall Ten Years Are Gone Polydor 1973
1974 Louie Bellson Louie Rides Again! Percussion Power 1974
1975 Louis Bellson The Louis Bellson Explosion Pablo 1975
1975 Bobby Hutcherson Montara Blue Note 1975
1976 Carmen McRae Can't Hide Love Blue Note 1976
1976 Cedar Walton Beyond Mobius RCA 1976
1976 Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon True Blue Xanadu 1976
1976 Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon Silver Blue Xanadu 1976
1976 Dolo Coker Dolo! Xanadu 1977
1976 Dolo Coker California Hard Xanadu 1977
1974–77 Sam Jones Something in Common Muse 1977
1977 Sam Jones Changes & Things Xanadu 1978
1978 Philly Joe Jones Advance! Galaxy 1979
1978 Philly Joe Jones Drum Song Galaxy 1985

References

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  1. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 286. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Blue Mitchell | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  3. ^ Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 126. Gale Cengage Learning. 2015. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1-57302-425-9.
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