Trumpeter-composer Richard Allen “Blue” Mitchell recorded steady as a leader and sideman from the early 1950 until his premature death from cancer in 1979. Along the way, Mitchell played rhythm and blues, funk, rock, and a whole lot of hard bop jazz, the style for which he is most renowned, if too often overlooked. His initial run of sessions as a leader were cut for the Riverside label, and one of the best is Blue’s Moods, a quartet date from 1960 featuring pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Roy Brooks. Added to the Original Jazz Classics line in 1984, it’s available now in a fresh 180 gram vinyl edition cut from the original tapes in a tip on jacket with an obi strip from Craft Recordings.
Blue Mitchell was a perennially inside guy, never dabbling in the avant-garde, even as a sideman. He debuted on record straight out of high school in 1951, playing R&B (unsurprising given his nickname) as a sideman in Paul Williams’ Hucklebuckers. Other R&B bands that benefitted from Mitchell’s contribution during these early days were those of Earl Bostic and Red Prysock. Entering the jazz field during this period, Mitchell worked first with alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, then altoist Cannonball Adderley, who brought him into the sphere of the Riverside label, and after that, pianist Horace Silver.
But if a solidly inside player, Mitchell wasn’t a traditionalist, touring with Brit blues-rock kingpin John Mayall as documented on the 1972 live set Jazz Blues Fusion. Later in the decade, like a few of his contemporaries, Mitchell searched for commercial success by taking a trip to the Funktion Junction, his not highly regarded 1976 LP for RCA.
In terms of critical reception, Mitchell’s peak stretch began in 1958, the year he cut Portrait of Cannonball and his first LP as a leader, Big 6, and continued deep into the following decade as a productive run for Blue Note was winding down. Blue’s Moods, Mitchell’s fourth of six for Riverside, stands out in part through the lack of an additional horn in the lineup (his prior albums featured tenor sax and trombone).
Going it alone on trumpet in a quartet is risky, but Mitchell handles the task without a stumble, clearly comfortable with the material, which adds two original compositions to a diverse slate of standards, and notably Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple From the Apple” (with no saxophone in the scheme!) plus a version of “Avars” by the obscure tenor saxophonist Rocky Boyd.
Comfort reinforces confidence, as Mitchell’s tone is bright and his delivery sturdy in opener “I’ll Close My Eyes.” And comfort and confidence are further emboldened by top flight accompaniment; Kelly’s solo in “I’ll Close My Eyes” is a delight, and when Mitchell comes back in, it’s with an air of beauty that’s distinct from Miles Davis (Kelly’s main trumpet foil during this period).
“Avars” and “Scrapple From the Apple” solidify the hard bop thrust of Blue’s Moods, but it’s the back-to-back originals that underscore the appropriateness of Mitchell’s sobriquet. It’s Jones on bass who nearly steals the show, however. He establishes an unwavering jittery lope in “Kinda Vague” (co-written by Kelly) and then dishes a huge walking line under Kelly’s solo and gets his own spot to shine in the terrifically swinging “Sir John.”
Mitchell shifts into classic balladic mode with “When I Fall in Love,” while “Pumpkin” and “I Wish I Knew” bring Blue’s Moods to a lively close. What the album lacks in the innovative is made up for by the intensity and focus of the assembled band.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
