Bassist Red Mitchell, who had led two fairly obscure sessions for Bethlehem in 1955, came up with a gem on his lone Contemporary set as a leader (which has been reissued as this CD). Based in Los Angeles at the time, Mitchell utilized pianist Lorraine Geller and two up-and-coming players: James Clay (who splits his time between tenor and flute) and, in one of his first recording sessions, drummer Billy Higgins. The quartet performs then-recent tunes by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Clifford Brown ("Sandu"), a pair of Mitchell originals, "Scrapple From the Apple" and "Cheek to Cheek." Despite Higgins' and (to a lesser extent) Clay's connections with Ornette Coleman, the music is strictly high-quality modern mainstream bop of the era. Easily recommended to collectors of straight-ahead jazz. - Scott Yanow
Tracks
01. Scrapple From The Apple (Charlie Parker)
02. Rainy Night (Red Mitchell)
03. I Thought Of You (Red Mitchell)
04. Out Of The Blues (Miles Davis)
05. Paul’s Pal (Sonny Rollins)
06. Sandu (Clifford Brown)
07. Cheek To Cheek (Irvin Berlin)
RED MITCHELL bass
JAMES CLAY flute, tenor sax
LORRAINE GELLER piano
BILLY HIGGINS drums
Recorded at Contemporary’s studio in Los Angeles; March 26, 1957
Contemporary Records C - 7538