Red Mitchell
Keith Moore Mitchell, better known as Red Mitchell, was an American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet.
Red was raised in New Jersey by a father who was an engineer and loved music, and a mother who loved poetry. His first instruments were piano, alto saxophone, and clarinet. Although Cornell University awarded an engineering scholarship to Mitchell, by 1947 he was in the US Army playing bass. The next year he was in a jazz trio in New York City.
Mitchell became known for performing and/or recording with Mundell Lowe, Chubby Jackson, Charlie Ventura, Woody Herman, Red Norvo, Gerry Mulligan, and, after joining the West Coast jazz scene in the early 1950s, with Andre Previn, Shelly Manne, Hampton Hawes, Billie Holiday, Ornette Coleman, and others. He also worked as a bassist in the TV and film studios around Los Angeles, occasionally appearing on screen. Mitchell also appeared in documentaries about Tal Farlow, and Zoot Sims.
Saxophonist Harold Land and Mitchell founded and co-led a quintet in the early 1960s. In 1966, Red began tuning his bass in fifths (as the violin, viola, and cello are tuned), and his tuning method opened up many possibilities for bassists.
Mitchell moved to Stockholm in 1968 and he won Swedish Grammy Awards in 1986 and 1991 for his recorded performances as a pianist, bassist, and vocalist, and for his compositions and poetic song lyrics.
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Album Review
- Genesis of Genius: The Contemporary Albums by Jeff Kaliss
- Big Two by Chris Mosey
- Live at Port Townsend by Ken Dryden
- A Declaration of Interdependence by Jack Bowers
September 18, 2018
Red Mitchell and Tony Fruscella
October 16, 2017
Jim Hall And Red Mitchell - "Live At Sweet Basil 1978" Released On...
June 30, 2013
Weekend Extra: Dizzy Gillespie and Red Mitchell
November 06, 2009
Listen to the Bass Player: Part 5, Red Mitchell