Search - Blue Mitchell :: Graffiti

As funky as it gets

Luis Almeida | Miami, Fl | 12/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Graffiti Blues is one of the funkiest albums I have in my collection. Blue Mitchell was a key member of the Horace Silver quintet in the late '50s and early '60s. Horace is known as one of the father's of funk and he was at his funkiest when Blue was playing in his band. Many critics look at the albums put out in the late 60s and early 70s as being inferior to the classic jazz albums of earlier periods. These critics feel that jazz artists that got funky really sold out. I disagree. Electronic funk was a natural direction for Blue to head in. This album is an example of a group of excellent musicians that simply decided to get together and lay down a killer groove that happens to be electric. In this album you have people like Jon Faddis, another trumpet great that today leads the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra and Freddie Robinson who's guitar is very funky. Reminds me of Grant Green (not many do - Melvin Sparks is another one). Ray Pounds does a great job on the drums. Bottom line is that when I'm entertaining my friends who are all listeners of rock and blues, this is an album that I always put on. It's incredibly funky and accessible to people that are not fully in to the hard bop that I like so much. If you like funk, and you like jazz, this is a great album. Check it out, and don't let the critics fool you....."

Brilliant

Luis Almeida | 04/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a must have album. Funk-Jazz at its best."