In the first paragraph of Part 3 of this series, it was not by random choice that I included Red Mitchell's name in the short list of important bassists who emerged in the 1940s. He discovered ways of playing the instrument that made a difference in the bass's role in jazz. Bill Crow, the hero of part 3, has kindly agreed to expand on some of the reasons for Mitchell's importance...
In the first paragraph of Part 3 of this series, it was not by random choice that I included Red Mitchell's name in the short list of important bassists who emerged in the 1940s. He discovered ways of playing the...
As you may recall from parts 1 and 2, our theme in this series is that by concentrating on the lines played by a good string bassist, you can gain an understanding of the shape and structure of a piece...
In the days when I was learning to truly listen, Red Kelly gave me a piece of valuable advice. He told me to close my eyes and in my mind isolate and concentrate on the bass player. He said that when I felt and understood what the bassist was doing, the rest of the music would begin to fall into place. It was a coincidence, of course, that Red was a bass player...
Red Mitchell, Warne Marsh, Big Two (Storyville). Bassist Mitchell (1927-1992) and tenor saxophonist Marsh (1927-1987) played as a duo for two nights in 1980 at the Fasching Club in Stockholm. In this intimate recording, Storyville engineer Nils Edström captured the...
In the 1950s, critics talked of East and West coast jazz. It was a way of playing the racial card, with East coast representing black, played from the gut; while West was white, played from the mind. As far as the dogmatists were concerned: East good, West bad. The word "cerebral" became a term of abuse...
This week's videos feature the great trumpeter and flugelhorn player Clark Terry, a St. Louis native who (health permitting) will be coming home at the end of the month to headline "A Night of Jazz Greats" on Saturday, August 29 at Harris-Stowe State University.The concert, which benefits the Wolff...
Inner City Records happily announces the re-release of IC 7017 - Gerry Mulligan, Live in Paris. This album, recorded at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1954, presents Mulligan in one of his famed pianoless quartets. He is joined by {{Bob Brookmeyer = 5316}} on trombone, {{Red Mitchell = 9465}} on bass, and {{Frank Isola = 12524}} on drums...
This month in All About Jazz-New York , reviews of Brad Mehldau's trio at the Vanguard and Ray Drummond's duos project at Tribeca PAC. Pianist Bill Mays, one of the Drummond participants, recently shared some video of himself with the late bassist Red Mitchell in the early '80s. Absolutely captures the feeling of the old Bradley's, as did Drummond's show. (More Mays & Mitchell video here , here...
{{Bill Mays = 9196}} and {{Red Mitchell = 9465}} constituted one of the great piano-bass duos of the 1980s. Musicians and dedicated listeners still talk about their gigs at Bradley's in New York's Greenwich Village. Their album Two of a Mind has been out of print for years, although it shows up from time to time on web sites including this one, at prices ranging from high to heart-stopping. In 1982,...
Red played the most gorgeous melodic solos of anybody on any instrument. I think maybe he and Lester Young were in the same league. The fact that it was coming out of a string bass was mind-boggling. -- Jim Hall...
Being on holiday, as our British friends say, does not preclude a minor post from the road. The first leg of our trip south ended with a drive through the mountains of southern Oregon between Klamath Falls and Ashland. As...
Rifftides World Headquarters has welcome summer visitors and resounds with telecasts of Olympics events. Nonetheless, the staff makes time for listening. We don't award medals, but here are brief impressions of four recent CDs that placed high with the judges....
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