Blue Mitchell Blue Soul

Blue Mitchell - Blue Soul (1959) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #22of27)
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© 1959, 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305083
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from the original liner notes): “This is Blue Mitchell's third album as a leader. The first two were very good and well worth the attention of the jazz-listening public. But this present album is something else. It represents so definite and striking a forward step…with this recording Blue would seem to have stepped over the invisible line: He is no longer merely 'promising,' he has arrived…The most significant 'new' factor in the sound and content of Mitchell's playing is something best described as confidence, or authority.”

Blue Mitchell - Blue Soul (1959) {Riverside Japan, VICJ-41559, MiniLP JVC 20bit K2 rel 2006}
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© 1959, 2006 Riverside / JVC Japan | VICJ-41559 | 20bit K2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

A strong early winner from Blue – recorded with an all-star group that includes Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, Wynton Kelly, Sam Jones, and Philly Joe Jones. Mitchell's not necessarily the leader – Benny Golson and Jimmy Heath handled the arrangements – but the group overall is great, and the set has a nice mix of lyricality and hard bop groove. 9 numbers in all, including "Minor Vamp", "The Head", "Top Shelf", "Blue Soul", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Park Avenue Petite", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "Nica's Dream", and "Waverly Street".

Of trumpeter Blue Mitchell's seven Riverside recordings, only this set - along with three numbers on Blue Soul - feature Mitchell as the only horn. Joined by pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Roy Brooks, the trumpeter is typically distinctive, swinging, and inventive within the hard bop genre. He performs four standards, plus Ronnell Bright's "Sweet Pumpkin," the obscure "Avars," and a pair of originals in fine fashion.

Covering prime early recordings from 1956-1960 and one mid-'80s cut, Blue Note's The Best of Jimmy Smith offers up a fine introduction to the trailblazing jazz organist. Smith's Blue Note sessions not only introduced the world to the complex solo possibilities of the Hammond B3 organ, but simultaneously ushered in the soul-jazz era of the '60s, spawning a wealth of fine imitators in the process. Before delving into more commercial terrain on Verve in the late '60s, Smith cut a ton of jam-session dates for Blue Note, often with the help of hard bop luminaries like trumpeter Lee Morgan, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, tenor saxophonists Tina Brooks and Stanley Turrentine, and drummers Art Blakey and Donald Bailey. All are heard here on classic cuts like "The Sermon," "Back at the Chicken Shack," and "The Jumpin' Blues," with Smith regular Turrentine and a young Morgan availing themselves in especially fine form. For his part, Smith eats up the scenery on all the sides here, taking his solo to particularly impressive heights on a fleetly swinging rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".

Taking in Horace Silver's fertile '50s stretch (volume two covers the '60s), this Blue Note best-of disc is the perfect introductory set for listeners new to the hard bop giant. One of the first of the soul-jazz innovators (listen to that gospel-fired left hand and all that dancefloor-friendly material), Silver also wrote some of the most original cuts of the period and – like Art Blakey – provided a home for many of the best young players of the era. In fact, Silver headed up the first incarnation of the Jazz Messengers with Blakey, some of the fruits of which are heard here ("Preachin'," "Doodlin'," "Room 608"). Moving on to such classic LPs as Six Pieces of Silver ("Cool Eyes," "Senor Blues") and Blowin' the Blues Away ("Peace," "Sister Sadie"), Silver delivers some of the most sophisticated modern swing around with help from the likes of Hank Mobley, Junior Cook, Donald Byrd, Blue Mitchell, Doug Watkins, and Louis Hayes. A jazz primer with plenty of memorable tunes to boot.

Blue Mitchell - Bantu Village (1969) {Blue Note–Soul Brother Records CD SBCS 47 rel 2011}
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© 1969, 2011 Blue Note / Passion Music / Soul Brother Records | CD SBCS 47
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

One of the funkiest albums ever on Blue Note – a set that mixes the trumpet talents of Blue Mitchell with some killer backings from Monk Higgins – all in a groove that more gritty edges than the best funky soundtracks of the time! Higgins keeps the backings full, but always quite lean – fusing all elements together into a sharp, tight rhythm that steps along with some of the slight African touches you might guess from the title – a groove that's not really that authentic, but which resonates with some of the best inspirations that Hugh Masekela was bringing to American music at the time.