Search - Blue Mitchell :: Down With It

Get "Down" With Blue Again

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 10/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After a handful of solid albums as a leader for the Riverside label (see my reviews), and after recording for Blue Note as a member of the Horace Silver Quintet for more than four years, trumpeter Blue Mitchell was given the opportunity to cut a Blue Note album as a leader by Alfred Lion in 1963. However, his debut session, now known as "Step Lightly," did not see the light of day at the time of its recording. Blue was given another chance on July 30, 1964 and the result was the magical "The Thing To Do" (see my review). Blue Mitchell's third Blue Note session, "Down With It," was recorded on July 14, 1965. It features two of his colleagues from the old Horace Silver band, Junior Cook on tenor sax and Gene Taylor on bass. Joining the three Silver alumni are Al Foster on drums and the pianist Chick Corea, who made his recording debut on Blue's "The Thing To Do." Since Blue Mitchell was a Blue Note trumpeter at the height of Lee Morgan's popularity, it is no surprise that "Down With It" features several soulful, Sidewinder-like jazz numbers. But don't assume this is one of Blue's cheesy forays into funk from the later 60s. "Down With It" is a great modern jazz album, and very comparable to Lee Morgan titles like "Charisma" and "Cornbread." For those of you that did not get "Down" in the "Rare Groove" series, thankfully you can pick up this new RVG reissue."

The Blue Mitchell Quintet (featuring Chick Corea)

Chris Covais | 10/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blue Mitchell is a very good trumpet player. People don't rave about him as much as trumpet players Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, and Donald Byrd, but he has some classic Blue Note albums.



I actually think he's a great trumpet player. He's very sharp and I rarely hear him make one mistake. This album, Down With It is definately a product of the times, as well as a hard bop blowing session.



The album opens up with the catchy 60's pop hit, High Heal Sneakers. This song cooks! One other version I particulary enjoy is Chuck Mangione's version from his 1972 album, Alive.



All the songs on here have their own flavor, and all the musicians on here are at their best. The album also features a young Chick Corea who couldn't be older than 25. Junior Cook on tenor, and Al Foster on drums are awesome.



This is one more classic BN Rudy Van Gelder re-issued, and let's just hope we will have many more of them to come."