Blue Mitchell - Complete Blue Mitchell Blue Note Sessions 1963-1967
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Genre: Jazz
Artist: Blue Mitchell
Title: The Complete Blue Mitchell Blue Note Sessions 1963-1967
Record Company: Mosaic Records/Blue Note Records
Catalogue Number: Mosaic MD4-178 (4 Discs)
Total Time: 4 hours, 6 minutes, 31 seconds
Producer: Michael Cuscuna
Biography:
Owner of a direct, lightly swinging, somewhat plain-wrapped tone that fit right in with the Blue Note label's hard bop ethos of the 1960s, Blue Mitchell tends to be overlooked today perhaps because he never really stood out vividly from the crowd, despite his undeniable talent. After learning the trumpet in high school -- where he got his nickname -- he started touring in the early '50s with the R&B bands of Paul Williams, Earl Bostic and Chuck Willis before returning to Miami and jazz. There, he attracted the attention of Cannonball Adderley, with whom he recorded for Riverside in 1958. That year, he joined the Horace Silver Quintet, with whom he played and recorded until the band's breakup in March 1964, polishing his hard bop skills. During his Silver days, Mitchell worked with tenor Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, drummer Roy Brooks and various pianists as a separate unit and continued recording as a leader for Riverside. When Silver disbanded, Mitchell's spinoff quintet carried on with Al Foster replacing Brooks and a young future star named Chick Corea in the piano chair. This group, with several personnel changes, continued until 1969, recording a string of albums for Blue Note. Probably aware that opportunities for playing straight-ahead jazz were dwindling, Mitchell became a prolific pop and soul sessionman in the late '60s, and he toured with Ray Charles from 1969 to 1971 and blues/rock guitarist John Mayall in 1971-73. Having settled in Los Angeles, he also played big-band dates with Louie Bellson, Bill Holman and Bill Berry; made a number of funk and pop/jazz LPs in the late '70s; served as principal soloist for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne; and kept his hand in hard bop by playing with Harold Land in a quintet. He continued to freelance in this multi-faceted fashion until his premature death from cancer at age 49. (Richard S. Ginell for allmusic.com)
Discographical Section and Track List
Disc 01:
Blue Mitchell (tp) Leo Wright (as) Joe Henderson (ts) Herbie Hancock (p) Gene Taylor (b) Roy Brooks (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 13, 1963
01. tk.14 Mamacita
02. tk.11 Cry Me a River
03. tk.04 Andrea (aka Little Stupid)
04. tk.22 Step Lightly
05. tk.15 Sweet and Lovely
06. tk.24 Bluesville
BLP 4142 Blue Mitchell - Step Lightly (not released)
Blue Mitchell (tp) Junior Cook (ts) Chick Corea (p) Gene Taylor (b) Al Foster (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, July 30, 1964
07. tk.05 Fungii Mama
08. tk.19 Mona's Mood
09. tk.15 The Thing to Do
Disc 02:
01. tk.14 Step Lightly
02. tk.17 Chick's Tune
BLP 4178 Blue Mitchell - The Thing to Do
Blue Mitchell (tp) Junior Cook (ts) Chick Corea (p) Gene Taylor (b) Al Foster (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, July 14, 1965
03. tk.05 Hi-Heel Sneakers
04. tk.09 Perception
05. tk.07 Alone, Alone and Alone
06. tk.25 March on Selma
07. tk.32 On Shirt
08. tk.02 Samba de Stacy
BLP 4214 Blue Mitchell - Down with It
Disc 03:
Blue Mitchell (tp) Junior Cook (ts) Harold Mabern (p) Gene Taylor (b) Billy Higgins (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 6, 1966
01. tk.24 Bring It Home to Me
02. tk.30 Blues 3 for 1
03. tk.08 Port Rico Rock
04. tk.23 Gingerbread Boy
05. tk.14 Portrait of Jennie
06. tk.31 Blue's Theme
BLP 4228 Blue Mitchell - Bring It Home to Me
Blue Mitchell (tp) Julian Priester (tb) Jerry Dodgion (as, fl) Junior Cook (ts) Pepper Adams (bars) Cedar Walton (p -1/4) Chick Corea (p -5,6) Gene Taylor (b) Mickey Roker (d) Duke Pearson (arr)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 17, 1966
07. tk.22 Millie
08. tk.07 O Mama Enit
09. tk.17 I Should Care
10. tk.15 Rigor Mortez
Disc 04:
01. tk.42 Tones for Joan's Bones
02. tk.31 Straight Up and Down
BLP 4257 Blue Mitchell - Boss Horn
Burt Collins, Blue Mitchell (tp) Julian Priester (tb) Jerry Dodgion (as, fl) Junior Cook (ts) Pepper Adams (bars) McCoy Tyner (p), Gene Taylor (b) Al Foster (d) Jimmy Heath, Melba Liston, Duke Pearson, Don Pickett (arr)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 17, 1967
07. tk.8 Len Sirrah
04. tk.14 Togetherness
03. tk.18 Heads Up! Feet Down!
06. tk.24 Good Humor Man
05. tk.32 The Folks Who Live on the Hill
08. tk.34 The People in Nassau
09. tk.14 Togetherness (alternate take)*
10. tk.24 Good Humor Man (alternate take)*
BST 84272 Blue Mitchell - Heads Up! (except tracks marked *)
Reviews:
Chris Hovan for Allaboutjazz.com:
| “ | Those of you that are longtime jazz fans, take a few minutes and see how many jazz trumpeters you can name in the next minute. All done? I'm sure many of you remember Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Louis Armstrong, and Buck Clayton, just to name a few. Now, how many of you mentioned the name of Blue Mitchell? This trumpeter's greatest success came during his memorable stay with the Horace Silver Quintet during the early '60s, however his first dates as a leader for Riverside and subsequent work for Blue Note, the topic of discussion here, would mark him as one of the finest players of his generation. Up to now it was easy to get most of Mitchell's work on CD, however it took those astute moguls at Mosaic to assemble for the first time all of the trumpeter's prime Blue Note sides. The Complete Blue Note Blue Mitchell Sessions:1963-1967 is a substantial 4CD/6LP boxed set that presents the original albums Step Lightly, The Thing To Do, Down With It, Bring It Home To Me, Boss Horn, and Heads Up. A few of these albums have been available on CD, yet the pick of the lot is just now being issued on disc for the first time. Things get underway with the 1963 session Step Lightly which was unissued at the time, only finally surfacing on vinyl in the late '70s. The presence of Joe Henderson and Herbie Hancock make this more than your average affair. The tunes are choice, the arrangements neat and clever, and the playing by all is quite fine. Unfortunately, Mitchell would have to wait until 1964's The Thing To Do to make his Blue Note debut. Of course, this was not an unfavorable thing considering how momentous this occasion would prove to be. Jimmy Heath would supply a few of his choicest tunes and pianist Chick Corea would turn heads with some of his finest early work. In addition, Mitchell's “Fungi Mama” would go on to become a jazz standard. The next two dates, Down With It and Bring It Home To Me would continue in a similar fashion with Heath contributing tunes and tenor saxophonist Junior Cook sharing the front line with Mitchell. In fact, the sonority and articulate phrasing the two achieve is worth giving a special listen to after spinning these sides a few times through. Pianist Harold Mabern is also a special contributor to the later session. Up next, we get one of Mitchell's finest recorded achievements in the 1966 album Boss Horn. Fronting a seven-piece group with charts arranged by Duke Pearson, Mitchell covers a good deal of ground and makes some highly lyrical and cogent statements of his own. Chick Corea brings in his two finest compositions, “Tones For Joan's Bones” and “Straight Up and Down”, and both receive definitive performances. Mitchell's take on “I Should Care” also proves to be one of his finest solos on record. The closing session, Heads Up, also finds Mitchell in front of a large group with tunes and arrangements by Pearson, Heath, and Melba Liston. Once again, the charts and talented crew make way for a highly memorable album that should have garnered much more attention than it did upon release. | ” |
Scott Yanow for allmusic.com:
| “ | Blue Mitchell was always a consistent, lyrical, and pleasing trumpeter. Although not as significant during the 1960s as Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard (much less Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis), Mitchell had his own appealing sound and was a major asset on many modern mainstream dates. This four-CD limited-edition Mosaic box set collects Mitchell's first six Blue Note dates as a leader: Step Lightly, The Thing to Do, Down With It, Bring It Home to Me, Boss Horn, and Heads Up. Three albums are by his quintet, which included tenor saxophonist Junior Cook and usually the young pianist Chick Corea and was formed shortly after he left Horace Silver, and the three others are with larger groups, two of which have arrangements by Duke Pearson. Among the other key sidemen are tenor great Joe Henderson, altoist Leo Wright, baritonist Pepper Adams, and pianists Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner. There are just two previously unreleased cuts (both alternate takes), but most of the sets have been somewhat rare for years, and taken as a whole, the swinging hard bop and boogaloo performances are Blue Mitchell's finest recordings. | ” |
Downloads:
Disc 1:
Part 1-1
Part 1-2
Disc 2:
Part 2-1
Part 2-2
Disc 3:
Part 3-1
Part 3-2
Disc 4:
Part 4-1
Part 4-2
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