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Quick Facts
Biography
Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk trumpeter, and composer, who recorded many albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note, and Mainstream Records.
Biography
Mitchell was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He began playing trumpet in high school, where he acquired his nickname, Blue.
After high school, he played in the rhythm and blues ensembles of Paul Williams, Earl Bostic, and Chuck Willis. After returning to Miami he was noticed by Cannonball Adderley, with whom he recorded for Riverside Records in New York in 1958.
He then joined the Horace Silver Quintet, 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 he 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. This group produced a number of records for Blue Note. It disbanded in 1969, after which Mitchell joined and toured with Ray Charles until 1971.
From 1971 to 1973 Mitchell performed with John Mayall, appearing on Jazz Blues Fusion and subsequent albums. From the mid-70s 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. Other band leaders Mitchell recorded with include Lou Donaldson, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon, and Jimmy Smith. Blue Mitchell kept his hard-bop playing going with the Harold Land quintet up until his death from cancer on May 21, 1979, in Los Angeles, at the age of 49.
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Year | Title | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Big 6 | Riverside | |
1958 | Get Those Elephants Out'a Here | MetroJazz | with Red Mitchell, Whitey Mitchell and André Previn |
1959 | Out of the Blue | Riverside | |
1959 | Blue Soul | Riverside | |
1960 | Blue's Moods | Riverside | |
1961 | Smooth as the Wind | Riverside | |
1962 | A Sure Thing | Riverside | |
1962 | The Cup Bearers | Riverside | |
1963 | Step Lightly | Blue Note | Released 1980 |
1964 | The Thing to Do | Blue Note | |
1965 | Down with It! | Blue Note | |
1966 | Bring It Home to Me | Blue Note | |
1966 | Boss Horn | Blue Note | |
1967 | Heads Up! | Blue Note | |
1968 | Collision in Black | Blue Note | |
1969 | Bantu Village | Blue Note | |
1971 | Blue Mitchell (AKA Soul Village) | Mainstream | |
1971 | Vital Blue | Mainstream | |
1972 | Blues' Blues | Mainstream | |
1973 | The Last Tango = Blues | Mainstream | |
1973 | Graffiti Blues | Mainstream | |
1974 | Many Shades of Blue | Mainstream | |
1975 | Stratosonic Nuances | RCA | |
1976 | Funktion Junction | RCA | |
1977 | African Violet | ABC Impulse! | |
1977 | Mapenzi with Harold Land | Concord Jazz | |
1977 | Stablemates | Candid | |
1977 | Summer Soft | Impulse! |
As sideman
Year | Leader | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1952 | Lou Donaldson | Quartet/Quintet/Sextet | Blue Note |
1958 | Cannonball Adderley | Portrait of Cannonball | Riverside |
1959 | Philly Joe Jones | Drums Around the World | Riverside |
1959 | Lou Donaldson | The Time Is Right | Blue Note |
1959 | Jackie McLean | Jackie's Bag | Blue Note |
1959 | Horace Silver | Finger Poppin' | Blue Note |
1959 | Horace Silver | Blowin' the Blues Away | Blue Note |
1959 | Philly Joe Jones | Showcase | Riverside |
1960 | Jimmy Smith | Open House | Blue Note |
1960 | Jimmy Smith | Plain Talk | Blue Note |
1960 | Horace Silver | Horace-Scope | Blue Note |
1960 | Charlie Rouse | Takin' Care of Business | Jazzland |
1960 | Sam Jones | The Soul Society | Riverside |
1960 | Bobby Timmons | Soul Time | Riverside |
1960 | Jackie McLean | Capuchin Swing | Blue Note |
1960 | Jackie McLean & Tina Brooks | Street Singer | Blue Note |
1960 | Tina Brooks | Back to the Tracks | Blue Note |
1960 | Sonny Red | Breezing | Jazzland |
1961 | Junior Cook | Junior's Cookin' | Jazzland |
1961 | Elmo Hope | Homecoming! | Riverside |
1961 | Sam Jones | The Chant | Riverside |
1961 | Philly Joe Jones and Elvin Jones | Together! | Atlantic |
1961 | Horace Silver | Doin' the Thing | Blue Note |
1961 | Les McCann | Les McCann Ltd. in New York | Pacific Jazz |
1962 | Horace Silver | The Tokyo Blues | Blue Note |
1962 | Sonny Red | Images | Jazzland |
1962 | Red Garland | Red's Good Groove | Jazzland |
1962 | Sonny Stitt | Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass | Atlantic |
1962 | Sam Jones | Down Home | Riverside |
1963 | Stanley Turrentine | A Chip Off the Old Block | Blue Note |
1963 | Harold Vick | Steppin' Out! | Blue Note |
1963 | Horace Silver | Silver's Serenade | Blue Note |
1963 | Freddie Roach | Good Move! | Blue Note |
1964 | Horace Silver | Song for My Father | Blue Note |
1964 | Stanley Turrentine | In Memory Of | Blue Note |
1965 | Big John Patton | Oh Baby! | Blue Note |
1965 | George Benson | Benson Burner | Columbia |
1966 | Stanley Turrentine | Rough 'n' Tumble | Blue Note |
1966 | Harold Vick | The Caribbean Suite | RCA Victor |
1966 | Richard "Groove" Holmes | Soul Mist! | Prestige |
1966 | Joe Zawinul | Money in the Pocket | Atlantic |
1966 | Stanley Turrentine | The Spoiler | Blue Note |
1967 | Lou Donaldson | Mr. Shing-A-Ling | Blue Note |
1967 | Stanley Turrentine | A Bluish Bag | Blue Note |
1967 | Hank Mobley | Hi Voltage | Blue Note |
1967 | Stanley Turrentine | The Return of the Prodigal Son | Blue Note |
1968 | Lou Donaldson | Midnight Creeper | Blue Note |
1968 | Cedar Walton | Spectrum | Prestige |
1968 | Jimmy McGriff | The Worm | Solid State |
1968 | Harold Mabern | Rakin' and Scrapin' | Prestige |
1968 | Don Patterson | Opus De Don | Prestige |
1968 | Yusef Lateef | The Blue Yusef Lateef | Atlantic |
1968 | Lou Donaldson | Say It Loud! | Blue Note |
1968 | Jimmy McGriff | Step 1 | Solid State |
1969 | Jimmy McGriff | A Thing to Come By | Solid State |
1969 | Cedar Walton | The Electric Boogaloo Song | Prestige |
1969 | Charles Kynard | The Soul Brotherhood | Prestige |
1969 | Jimmy McGriff | Electric Funk | Blue Note |
1970 | Ray Charles | My Kind of Jazz | Tangerine |
1970 | Lou Donaldson | Everything I Play Is Funky | Blue Note |
1970 | Grant Green | Green Is Beautiful | Blue Note |
1970 | Lou Donaldson | Pretty Things | Blue Note |
1971 | David "Fathead" Newman | Captain Buckles | Cotillion |
1971 | Stanley Turrentine | The Sugar Man | CTI |
1972 | John Mayall | Jazz Blues Fusion | Polydor |
1972 | Papa John Creach | Filthy! | Grunt |
1973 | John Mayall | Moving On | Polydor |
1973 | John Mayall | Ten Years Are Gone | Polydor |
1974 | Louie Bellson | 150 MPH | Concord |
1975 | Bobby Hutcherson | Montara | Blue Note |
1975 | Louis Bellson | The Louis Bellson Explosion | Pablo |
1976 | Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon | True Blue | Xanadu |
1976 | Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon | Silver Blue | Xanadu |
1976 | Dolo Coker | Dolo! | Xanadu |
1976 | Dolo Coker | California Hard | Xanadu |
1976 | Carmen McRae | Can't Hide Love | Blue Note |
1976 | Cedar Walton | Beyond Mobius | RCA |
1977 | Sam Jones | Changes & Things | Xanadu |
1977 | Sam Jones | Something in Common | Muse |
1978 | Philly Joe Jones | Advance! | Galaxy |
1978 | Philly Joe Jones | Drum Song | Galaxy |