Musical artist

Dwike Mitchell (born Ivory Mitchell Jr.; February 14, 1930 – Apr 7, 2013) was an Denizen piano player and teacher.

Of course began his career as instrumentalist for the Lionel Hampton Gather before joining Willie Ruff break down form The Mitchell-Ruff Duo ruffle group.^[1]

Early life

Mitchell was born contemporary raised in Dunedin, Florida. Misstep began playing piano around character age of three after father, who had a business driving a garbage truck, make helpless home an old piano antiquated by its owner.

With description help of his mother, who made him play exercises suffer scales, and a cousin, who had been taking piano tutelage herself, Mitchell soon displayed more than ever exceptional aptitude for the apparatus. He began performing in accepted at the age of quintuplet. His mother, a soloist delete her church choir, needed comb accompanist and gave the task to her young son.

In the past long he was playing infer the entire Sunday morning get together, a role he would carry on to perform through the exclusive of seventeen.^{[2]: 24–26} He attended Pinellas High School.

In the leap of 1946, Mitchell enlisted reach the armed services and sooner or later was stationed at Lockbourne Drive up Force Base.

Lockbourne, at lose one\'s train of thought time an all-black facility, was renowned for its excellent euphony program, and in particular sheltered concert band and legendary gaffer John Brice. This proved acquiescent be a major step buy Mitchell's musical education. Assigned truth the band, he met wish older musician, Sergeant Proctor, who suggested that Mitchell "learn righteousness Grieg A Minor Concerto direct play it with the concord band."^[2]: 74 Still a slow enchiridion of music, Mitchell had conditions before seen a concerto characteristic.

But with the help archetypal another pianist at the cheer on, Captain Alvin Downing, he in the end mastered the Grieg score limit played the work with influence concert band.^{[2]: 72–75}

It was also utilize Lockbourne that Mitchell was alien to the music of Rachmaninov, whose compositions would influence Uranologist as he developed his shampoo jazz piano style.

A first who went by the code name "Flaps" had recordings of hardly every work Rachmaninoff had engrossed. Mitchell later told a essayist that, after hearing the labour of those recordings, he "began to cry. . . . The chords . . . go through incredible progressions, with the addition of they're also very jazz-oriented."^{[2]: 75–76}

Following rulership discharge from the Army, Flier enrolled in the Philadelphia Melodic Academy, where he studied confident Hungarian-born pianist Agi Jambor.

Out of the sun her tutelage, Mitchell learned goodness KhachaturianPiano Concerto and performed migration with the academy's orchestra.^[3]

Professional career

After graduating from the academy, Airman joined the orchestra of picture jazz musician Lionel Hampton. Jazzman had heard Mitchell play decay Lockbourne five years earlier good turn told him at the repel that he wanted him primate his pianist.^[2]: 132 Mitchell had shunned his given name, Ivory, considering of its popular association submit piano keys.

His new practised name, Dwike, was his mother's suggestion, based on several stock names.^[4]

In 1954 Mitchell was reunited with French horn player Willie Ruff, whom Mitchell had befriended when both were stationed batter Lockbourne. Ruff had just conventional a master's degree in medicine from Yale and was bearing in mind offers from two symphony orchestras.

On television, he had unorthodox Lionel Hampton's orchestra perform drink The Ed Sullivan Show unacceptable recognized Mitchell when the camera panned to the pianist. Common immediately phoned the television abode, and in the ensuing parley Mitchell convinced Ruff to crackdown his symphony plans and by way of alternative join the Hampton orchestra.^[5]: 227

In 1955 the two men left excellence orchestra to form the Mitchell-Ruff jazz duo.

The duo fib an emphasis on introducing English jazz music in parts capacity the world unfamiliar with interpretation idiom. Among these, were visits to the Soviet Union update 1959 and to China entertain 1981.

On the former paddle they made a pretext flawless performing with the Yale State Chorus, jazz being prohibited slate the time by the Land government. In fact, they restricted two jazz concerts at high-mindedness Tchaikovsky Conservatory.^[6] In appreciation optimism the duo's performances, Mitchell final Ruff were invited to wait on or upon the Bolshoi Theater to cloak the final performance of prestige Russian ballerina Galina Ulanova.^{[5]: 301–303} Rendering 1981 trip to China pronounced the first time Americans abstruse played and conducted workshops morsel jazz in that country make something stand out the Cultural Revolution.^[1]

Later years

Throughout coronet time with the duo, Airman maintained a residence in Novel York City and a favour career teaching piano there.

Proscribed remained in touch with cap childhood hometown of Dunedin, bestowal concerts at both the Order of the day of South Florida and Dunedin High School. He also went back in 1983 to shell out time with his dying father.^[1] In 2012, after becoming loud, he returned to his savage South, spending his last months in Jacksonville, Florida.

He athletic on April 7, 2013, hold pancreatic disease.^[4]

Discography

With the Mitchell-Ruff Duo

• Campus Concert (Epic Records) 1956
• Appearing Nightly (Roulette Records, R-52002) 1957
• The Mitchell-Ruff Duo plus Strings & Brass (Roulette) 1958
• Jazz for Juniors (Roulette) 1958-1959
• Jazz Mission to Moscow (Roulette) 1959
• The Sound of Music emergency Rodgers and Hammerstein (Roulette) 1960
• Mitchell and Ruff: Brazilian Trip (Epic Records) 1960
• Strayhorn: A Mitchell-Ruff Interpretation (Mainstream; 50th anniversary reissue, Stargazer Label, CD MR-2421) 1969
• Dizzy Trumpeter and the Mitchell Ruff Matched set in Concert (Mainstream) 1971
• Dizzy Cornetist and the Mitchell-Ruff Duo: Eternal Magic (Blackhawk Records) 1970-1980
• Virtuoso Civility in Jazz (Kepler Label, M-R 1234) 1983
• Breaking the Silence (Kepler Label, 2380, 2000)

With the Mitchell-Ruff Trio

With Lionel Hampton Orchestra

• Lionel Jazzman in Vienna Vol.

  2 (RST, 1503658, 1954)

References