His first steady jazz gig was on 52nd street in 1948, playing in a trio opposite Charlie Parker’s quintet. By the 1950s he had achieved early recognition for his recordings and performances with Charlie Ventura, Woody Herman, the Red Norvo Trio, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Andre Previn, Hampton Hawes and Billie Holiday among others. His second record as a leader, Presenting Red Mitchell, with Billy Higgins, Lorraine Geller and James Clay is still selling. Starting with a recommendation by Barney Kessel, he became involved in film and TV music.
Ok, Every nation has its own
Traditions and its language,
And to take good care of them is really laudable;
And the language and traditions find
Their way into the music
With results that now and then are really audible
But the function of the music is
To get beneath our differences –
Communicate directly, soul to soul.
It’s the nearest thing to
Universal language we’ve developed
And its purpose is to make the whole world whole.
by
-Red Mitchell
