Mitchell Ruff Duo

Although Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff have worked together as a duo for decades, their recordings have been sporadically available, including these early-'70s sessions first issued by Mainstream. Their program focuses exclusively on the works of Billy Strayhorn, who was so impressed with their performance at the now defunct Hickory House that he wrote "Suite for the Duo" specifically for them…

A superb group featuring pianist Dwike Mitchell and bassist/French horn player Willie Ruff, the Mitchell-Ruff Duo has been recorded erratically and rarely reissued on CDs. This 1959 Town Hall concert is a recreation of an earlier performance in Moscow that could not be recorded due to problems with the Soviet regime…

The Mitchell-Ruff Duo decided upon a different approach for this 1958 session for Roulette, adding a string session and brass, along with veteran bassist Milt Hinton, and a young drummer, Elvin Jones (prior to his joining John Coltrane)…

The Mitchell-Ruff Duo - Jazz Mission to Moscow (1959) {Roulette SF-9031} (Released on VINYL but not CD)
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/48kHz - VINYL LP RIP -> 200 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 45 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959 Roulette | SF-9031
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Bass / French horn / Piano

A superb group featuring pianist Dwike Mitchell and bassist/French horn player Willie Ruff, the Mitchell-Ruff Duo has been recorded erratically and rarely reissued on CDs. This 1959 Town Hall concert is a recreation of an earlier performance in Moscow that could not be recorded due to problems with the Soviet regime. (Ruff taught himself Russian in order to better communicate with musicians and the audience during their stay in the Soviet Union, which is described in detail within Ruff's excellent autobiography, A Call to Assembly.) The piano/bass duets include a subtle arrangement of "Walking," an unusual take of "When Lights Are Low" that utilizes a recurring clock-like vamp, a playful "Squeeze Me," and a driving version of Clifford Brown's exciting bop anthem "Daahoud."

Dizzy Gillespie - Live with The Mitchell-Ruff Duo (1982) {3xLP BOMC Records 31-6515 rec 1970-80} (Released on VINYL but not CD)
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/48kHz - VINYL LP RIP -> 733 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 378 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 249 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970-80, 1982 Book-of-the-Month Records | 31-6515
Jazz / Post Bop / Trumpet / Piano / Bass

This is a beautiful 3 LP Box set that comes with an informative book (high quality scans included). Ripped from a brand new sealed vinyl copy. Sounds fantastic! Enjoy! I've always felt that the comparative lack of attention received by Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff, despite their travels to South America and Russia (they were apparently more foreign to American ears) and a book written about them by William Zinsser, was due to their academic affiliations and absence from sessions featuring major players (Willie's name would show up on some orchestra sessions as a French horn player, but that was about it). Despite owning three albums by them, I don't think I've ever met anyone who has heard of them let alone heard them. So the discovery of this date with Dizzy Gillespie comes as a pleasant surprise.

The Mitchell Ruff Duo - Breaking the Silence: Standards, Strayhorn & Lullabies (2000) {Kepler Digital Download rel 2012}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (tidal.com) -> 187 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2000, 2012 The Mitchell Ruff Duo / The Kepler Label
Jazz / Bop / Chamber Jazz / Post Bop / Piano / French Horn / Bass

Breaking the Silence by the Mitchell Ruff Duo is a brilliant example of jazz artistry with a creative palette as wide as a grand piano, an historic sensibility as deep as the robust sounds of a string bass, and a fluidity of musical mastery as elegant and arresting as the warm tones of a french horn.