- Blue Mitchell & Junior Cook Quintet Sessions "The Cup Bearers" / "Junior's Cookin'" (feat. Dolo Coker, Ronnie Mathews, Gene Taylor, Roy Brooks & Cedar Walton) · 1961
- Smooth as the Wind · 1959
- Smooth As the Wind / A Sure Thing · 1961
- The Thing to Do · 1964
- The Thing to Do · 1964
- Graffiti Blues · 1974
- Blue Mitchell · 1963
- Smooth As the Wind / A Sure Thing · 1959
- Blue: Hit After Hit · 1959
- Your Decision Today · 2021
- Your Decision Today · 2021
- Your Decision Today · 2021
- Your Decision Today · 2021
Singles & EPs
- 1971
Live Albums
- 2021
- 2015
- 2014
- 2014
Appears On
- Junior Cook Quintet
- The Red Garland Quintet
- Bobby Timmons
About Blue Mitchell
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 session man in the late '60s, and he toured with Ray Charles from 1969 to 1971 and blues/rock guitarist John Mayall in 1971-1973. 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 multifaceted fashion until his premature death from cancer at age 49. ~ Richard S. Ginell
- HOMETOWN
- Miami, FL, United States
- BORN
- 13 March 1930
- GENRE
- Jazz