At a time when most young trumpet players were modeling themselves on Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, or Clifford Brown, Blue Mitchell was a new quality. With his precision, harmonic ingenuity, and a hint of melancholy in his warm tone that suggested the mellowness of a cornet, Mitchell brought modern excitement contrasted with a lyricism that was somehow old-fashioned. This is Mitchell at 28, in his first album as a leader, recommended to Riverside’s Orrin Keepnews by Cannonball Adderley and living up to Adderley’s enthusiastic billing. Teamed with five of the major players of the day, Mitchell not only holds his own but is clearly in command of the proceedings. Mitchell had arrived in New York from Florida fully equipped for the fame that he would shortly achieve.

with Johnny Griffin, Curtis Fuller, Wynton Kelly, Wilbur Ware, Philly Joe Jones