Double Bass Talking about Red Mitchell

[Paul Warburton]

Here's a couple that weren't posted @ youtube when this thread was posted........

"My silent love" with Red, Jimmy Rowles and Donald Bailey. Lots of left handed glissandi in fifth tuning.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtAhaOSF6w4

Red's tune, "Kelly Green", with Claude Williamson and Stan Levey. Lots of left handed glissandi in fourth tuning and gut strings from 1955......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGP0E3XmzrA

Gee, I think I see a pattern here.

 

[lrhbass]

Nice!!

 

[Feral Feline]

Thanks for the bump / links Monsieur Warburton.

I've been getting further into the Red Mitchell rabbit hole and feel like Alice in Blunderland – Just so much to absorb. Really digging his duets, as I'm fascinated how Mitchell and a solo instrumentalist (ie non-polyphonic) could make such great music without any backing band or additional accompaniment – never feeling ... stark, bare, unmusical, overstuffed single note lines, empty ... I don't know. His duets remain engaging where others would fail to captivate. This is reflected in that he seemed to do more duets than most other bass players. I could be wrong, I'm still but a newb in the grand slam of things and maybe there's lots of other artist-duets I should be checking out.

 

[Paul Warburton]

FF, rather than posting more about Red's work, his life and his artistic and activistic information again here, I would suggest you visit his site in case you didn't read this entire thread. Also, you can do a TB search under his name.

www.redmitchell.com

Briefly, I will say that he was also a great jazz pianist, which is revealed here, in "The modest jazz trio" with Jim Hall and his old friend, ex-Woody Herman bassist, Red Kelly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxl_aUmWR20

Also, he was an alto sax player before moving on to bass.

Speaking of his "duets", in one of the interviews @ his site he talks about he and Bill Evans doing a duo gig at Shelly's Manne Hole for four nights in which he and Bill talked Shelly into letting them play duo, rather than Shelly joining them at his own club.
The switch to fifth tuning obviously gave Red a huge advantage in duets compared to other bassists because of the ability for him to comp more like a guitarist with double and triple stops plus his amazing sense of melody, more like a tenor player than a bassist.

 

[Michael Glynn]

Thanks for the bump / links Monsieur Warburton.

I've been getting further into the Red Mitchell rabbit hole and feel like Alice in Blunderland – Just so much to absorb. Really digging his duets, as I'm fascinated how Mitchell and a solo instrumentalist (ie non-polyphonic) could make such great music without any backing band or additional accompaniment – never feeling ... stark, bare, unmusical, overstuffed single note lines, empty ... I don't know. His duets remain engaging where others would fail to captivate. This is reflected in that he seemed to do more duets than most other bass players. I could be wrong, I'm still but a newb in the grand slam of things and maybe there's lots of other artist-duets I should be checking out.

In addition to what Paul said, I would take notice of what Red plays even on his "simple" walking lines when he's playing duets. You'll hear that he doesn't play every note with the same sound and feel. Instead he accents some notes, plays some shorter or longer, changes the timbre, and uses left-hand articulations (like Paul was mentioning a couple of posts ago). By doing this he adds in a great deal of variety and rhythmic interest that might otherwise be supplied by the drummer or other musicians. And, of course, all of this variety in sound and articulation is always matched perfectly to his note choices in creating an effective counter melody to the other player.

Many of these things that made Red a great duo player are the same things that made him a great soloist. After all, if you can play great melodic solos, you should be able to play great melodic bass lines. It's also the same stuff that makes his solos sound so "horn-like." Listen to his solos and you'll hear the same great diversity of left-hand articulations, note lengths, accents, timbre, etc, as in his duo accompaniment. Now listen to some great horn soloists and what do you hear: variety of articulation (tongued vs. slurred notes), accents, timbre...you get the idea. Of all the stuff I have gotten from Red, I think his range of articulations and sounds has influenced me the most.

 

[ewe2]

I came across Red Mitchell on the Hampton Hawes releases, fantastic in every one of them.

 

[Paul Warburton]

In addition to what Paul said, I would take notice of what Red plays even on his "simple" walking lines when he's playing duets. You'll hear that he doesn't play every note with the same sound and feel. Instead he accents some notes, plays some shorter or longer, changes the timbre, and uses left-hand articulations (like Paul was mentioning a couple of posts ago). By doing this he adds in a great deal of variety and rhythmic interest that might otherwise be supplied by the drummer or other musicians. And, of course, all of this variety in sound and articulation is always matched perfectly to his note choices in creating an effective counter melody to the other player.

Many of these things that made Red a great duo player are the same things that made him a great soloist. After all, if you can play great melodic solos, you should be able to play great melodic bass lines. It's also the same stuff that makes his solos sound so "horn-like." Listen to his solos and you'll hear the same great diversity of left-hand articulations, note lengths, accents, timbre, etc, as in his duo accompaniment. Now listen to some great horn soloists and what do you hear: variety of articulation (tongued vs. slurred notes), accents, timbre...you get the idea. Of all the stuff I have gotten from Red, I think his range of articulations and sounds has influenced me the most.

I'm in total agreement, Michael.....great post.

 

[JBarz]

Cough, bump, cough…

I’ve finally drank the koolaide and made the transition into fifths.

I’m going to break out the ole pencil and paper and make a double/triple-stop map of the fingerboard this afternoon so I can start throwing those in casually.

“Jeremy, when his mind and bass opened”

I’ve been listening to everything Red that I can get my hands on, really trying to “full immersion” assimilate this man’s musical being. I haven’t been this motivated since I first heard Cannonball as a young saxophonist.

Also, I really dig his tunes and vocals. “You’re me” is so catchy and clever.

Anyway, just wanted to revive this excellent thread.

 

[gerry grable]

Thanks for the bump / links Monsieur Warburton.

I've been getting further into the Red Mitchell rabbit hole and feel like Alice in Blunderland – Just so much to absorb. Really digging his duets, as I'm fascinated how Mitchell and a solo instrumentalist (ie non-polyphonic) could make such great music without any backing band or additional accompaniment – never feeling ... stark, bare, unmusical, overstuffed single note lines, empty ... I don't know. His duets remain engaging where others would fail to captivate. This is reflected in that he seemed to do more duets than most other bass players. I could be wrong, I'm still but a newb in the grand slam of things and maybe there's lots of other artist-duets I should be checking out.

Oscar Peterson with Ray Brown comes in my fuzzy mind

 

[Lionel Albert]

Hi !

I don't know if someone mentioned the way of how Red Mitchell plucked the strings.