RED MITCHELL, O JAZZ POÉTICO

O musico do contra-baixo acústico,compositor, letrista e poeta Keith Moore Mitchell nasceu no 20 de Setembro de 1927, em Nova York e ficou famoso no mundo do jazz com o nome de Red Mitchell.

Red cresceu em Nova Jersey e seu pai era engenheiro e a mãe adorava poesia. Seus primeiros instrumentos foram o piano, o saxofone alto e a clarineta. Ganhou uma bolsa de estudos para cursar engenharia na Cornell University e em 1947 estava no exercito americano onde tocava o baixo. No ano seguinte em Nova York, engajou-se desta vez , a um trio de jazz

Depois de uma bem sucedida carreira ao lado de grandes nomes do jazz em seu país, Mitchell transferiu-se para Estocolmo onde ganhou dois Premios Grammy Suecos em 1986 e 1991 respectivamente, por suas gravações como pianista, baixista e vocalista e suas composições e a linhagem poetica das canções.

Voltou para os Estados Unidos em 1992 e fixou-se no Oregon, onde veio a falecer no fim deste mesmo ano. Uma coletânea de suas poesias foi publicada postumamente.

Clique para testemunhar um momento antológico do jazz: Red Mitchell e Clark Terry em "It Don't Mean a Thing"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOWaUR6ta0c

American jazz double-bass, composer,lyricist, and poet Keith Moore Mitchell was born on September 20, 1927, New York City and was better known as Red Mitchell.

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.

During this period, Mitchell performed and/or recorded with Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, Herb Ellis, Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Kenny Barron, Hank Jones, Bill Mays, Warne Marsh, Jimmy Rowles, Phil Woods, Roger Kellaway, Putte Wickman and others. He frequently collaborated in duos, most notably with pianist Kellaway after the mid-1980s.

Returning to the United States in early 1992, Mitchell settled in Oregon where he died at age 65 later that year. A collection of his poetry was published posthumously.

Reference - AAJ

Tradução - Humberto Amorim