AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SPRING, 2022
VOLUME ELEVEN NUMBER TWO
ROSCOE MITCHELL
MORGAN GUERIN
(March 18-24)
KENNY KIRKLAND
(March 26-APRIL 1)
STACEY DILLARD
(April 2-8)
CHARENÉE WADE
(April 9-15)
JAMAEL DEAN
(April 16-22)
BRUCE HARRIS
April 23-29)
BENJAMIN BOOKER
(April 30-May 7)
UNA MAE CARLISLE
(May 7-13)
JUSTIN BROWN
(May 14-20)
TYLER MITCHELL
(May 21-27)
JONTAVIOUS WILLIS
(May 28-June 3)
CHRIS BECK
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tyler-mitchell-mn0001246093/biography
Tyler Mitchell
(b. October 7, 1958)
Artist Biography by Paul Simpson
Bassist Tyler Mitchell has regularly mixed jazz traditions with avant-garde ideas throughout his career, which has seen him backing renowned vocalists Shirley Horn and Jon Hendricks in addition to exploring outer realms as a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Known for having a weighty bass sound, his playing can be delicate and swinging at the same time. Originally from Chicago, he moved to New York in the 1980s and quickly became an in-demand sideman, touring and recording with Sun Ra, Art Taylor, Steve Grossman, Rashied Ali, and many others. Mitchell moved to Mexico in 2000 and worked with numerous Latin jazz musicians. Since the early 2000s, he's focused on leading his own groups, and he released his debut album as a leader, Live at Smalls, in 2012. He returned to the Arkestra and collaborated with leader Marshall Allen on the 2022 releases Dancing Shadows and Sun Ra's Journey.
Tyler Mitchell was born in Chicago in 1958. His father, Caton Mitchell, was a painter and muralist who was friends with jazz legends such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Max Roach. Tyler studied bass with Donald Raphael Garrett (Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and Malachi Favors (Art Ensemble of Chicago), and performed with Von Freeman and Paris Smith. He moved to New York in 1984 and joined the Sun Ra Arkestra, with whom he toured Japan and Europe. Mitchell performed on the albums Reflections in Blue and Hours After, which were both recorded in Italy in 1986 during the same sessions, and subsequently released by Black Saint. He performed in the Steve Grossman Trio, also featuring Art Taylor. He then joined Art Taylor's Wailers, and was featured on the live album Wailin' at the Vanguard. Mitchell toured with vocalist Jon Hendricks and played on his 1990 album Freddie Freeloader. He performed on Shirley Horn's 1993 release Light out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles). Later in the decade, he played with musicians such as Rashied Ali, Frank Lowe, and Larry Goldings.
Mitchell moved to Mexico in 2000, and later traveled to Cuba and South America, working with many Latin jazz musicians, particularly pianist Gabriel Hernandez, who played in Mitchell's trio and quintet. Mitchell formed a psychedelic jazz group called the TamoTyler Experience in 2008, including performer/vocalist TaMo TuMa, guitarist Ken Basman, and drummer Hernan Hecht. Mitchell returned to New York around 2011 and reconnected with the Arkestra, and he's since continued touring and recording with them. Mitchell's debut album as a leader, Live at Smalls, was recorded at Greenwich Village's Smalls Jazz Club in 2012, and issued by the club itself. He also played in a trio with Spike Wilner, a pianist and manager of Smalls. Mitchell performed on the Arkestra's 2020 studio album Swirling, and he was joined by Marshall Allen on the 2022 album Dancing Shadows, which contained compositions by Sun Ra and Thelonious Monk as well as alto sax player Nicoletta Manzini and Mitchell himself. Mitchell and Allen also collaborated for the album Sun Ra's Journey, issued by Cellar Live the same year.
Tyler Mitchell: Dancing Shadows
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A great head with jaunty moves Dancing Shadows certainly is, and for that we owe bassist Tyler Mitchell a good deal of gratitude. Serving as the session's swing-spring anchor, Tyler gives the floor over to elder statesman and Sun Ra alum saxophonist Marshall Allen who, at the very creative age of 97, takes us loosely through a twelve-song set consisting of Tyler and Marshall originals, a couple of prime Sun Ra takes and "Skippy," an inverted bop bounce courtesy of Thelonious Monk that may leave you dancing on clouds.
Sounding like they all convened in a New York studio via Chicago and Hackensack, the remaining sextet—Chris Hemingway tenor sax, Nicoletta Manzini alto sax. drummer Wayne Smith, and percussionist Elson Nascimento—follow Tyler and Mitchell's lead with a fluid affinity that locks the listener in and moves him or her on. Just try to resist the groove to Sun Ra's 1966 gem "Interstellar Low Ways," a groove that has lost none of its power to sway. The title track is a hard bop free-fall with the horns ripping and declaring, tripping and daring the listener and the rhythm section to keep up. The trippy lure of "Angels and Demons," the brief, casual fire of "Care Free," the burst and blare of "Space Travelers," all add up to that rare rush that seems to get harder and harder to find. Listen to this one at the start of the day what watch how easy the day gets.
Track Listing
Interstellar Lowways; Spaced Out; Angels & Demons At Play; Skippy; Nico; Dancing Shadows; Carefree; Marshall The Deputy; Nico Revisited; Space Travelers; Enlightenment; A Call For All Demons.
Personnel
Tyler Mitchell: bass; Marshall Allen: saxophone, alto; Chris Hemingway: saxophone, alto; Nicoletta Manzini: saxophone, alto; Wayne Smith: drums; Elson Nascimento: percussion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Mitchell_(musician)
Tyler Mitchell (musician)
Jump to navigation Jump to search Tyler Mitchell (born October 7, 1958) is a jazz bassist and has recorded and toured with some of jazz's most respected artists, including: Art Taylor, Jon Hendricks, Shirley Horn, George Coleman and the Sun Ra Arkestra. He is unique in that he is active in both the traditional and avant-garde jazz idioms and is currently in demand as both a leader and a sideman in New York City. He studied the bass with Donald Raphael Garrett (John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Roland Kirk) and Malachi Favors (Art Ensemble of Chicago). He has recorded on Grammy nominated recordings and has recorded at The Village Vanguard.Career
In 1985, after moving to New York, Tyler joined the Sun Ra Arkestra and toured extensively through Europe & Japan and recorded two albums with them.
In 1988, he joined Art Taylor in his "Taylor's Wailers", recording 2 CDs, including one live CD at the Village Vanguard.
He joined Jon Hendricks' European Tour in 1990 and recorded Freddie Freeloader on the DENON Jazz label with Stanley Turrentine, Wynton Marsalis, among others. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award that year.[1]
In 1992, he played on Grammy Award winning jazz vocalist Shirley Horn's recording Light Out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles), which received 4/5 Stars on AllMusic.[2]
In 1997, Mitchell continued to play with free jazz icon and Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali, Billy Bang, Jason Lindner, Frank Lowe, Larry Goldings amongst others.
He currently plays and records with his own group as a leader as well as with the Sun Ra Arkestra.[3]
His debut CD as a leader, Tyler Mitchell – Live at Small's was released on the Small's LIVE record label in late 2012 and was an Editors' Pick in Downbeat Magazine in January 2013.[4]
Tyler Mitchell's father, Caton Mitchell,[5] was an acclaimed and recognized muralist and painter and was active in Chicago.[6]
Discography
As leader
- 2013 Tyler Mitchell - Live at Smalls, Smalls LIVE[7]
As sideman (selected)
- 1987 Sun Ra - Reflections in Blue, Black Saint
- 1988 Sun Ra - Hours After, Black Saint
- 1990 Jon Hendricks - Freddie Freeloader, Denon
- 1990 Shirley Horn - Light Out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles)[2]
- 1991 Art Taylor - Mr. A.T., Enja
- 1992 Art Taylor - Wailin' At The Vanguard, Verve
External links
Tyler Mitchell. Bassist.
CDs & Records
Selected recordings by Tyler Mitchell.
NEW!!
Tyler Mitchell featuring Marshall Allen
Dancing Shadows
Mahakala Music
2022
Tyler Mitchell
Live At Smalls
Smalls Live
2012
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Sun Ra Arkestra
Reflections In Blue
Black Saint
1987
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Sun Ra Arkestra
After Hours
Black Saint
1989
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Arthur Taylor's Wailers
Wailin' At The Vanguard
Verve Records
1993
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Arthur Taylor
Mr. A. T. (Taylor's Wailers)
Enja Records
1992
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Sun Ra Arkestra Under The Direction Of Marshall Allen
Live At Babylon
In Out Records
2015
About Tyler
Tyler Mitchell's Bio
Chicago born Tyler Mitchell studied the bass with Donald Raphael Garrett (Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Roland Kirk) and Malachi Favors (Art Ensemble of Chicago). He played with Von Freeman before moving to NY in 1984. In 1985/86 he joins Sun Ra Arkestra with which he play and tours Europe & Japan and records two albums. Part of the 'Steve Grossman Trio' with Art Taylor touring Europe in 1987 and recording.
In 1988/89 he is one of the 'Art Taylor's Wailer's' also recording live at the Village Vanguard with Jacky Terrasson.
He joins Jon Hendricks' European Tour in 1990 and records Freddie the Freeloader with Stanley Turrentine, Wynton Marsalis.
In 1992 he plays with Shirley Horn recording 'Light out of Darkness'.
In 1997 plays with Rashied Ali, Billy Bang, Jason Lindner, Frank Lowe, Larry Goldings.
In 2000 Tyler moves to Mexico where he meets and plays with many musicians such as Cuban pianist Gabriel Hernandez, guitarist Ken Basman, Pere Soto, trumpeter Jason Palmer, drummers Hernan Hecht, Giovanni Figueroa, Francisco Mela, Alex Kautz, Codaryl Moffett.
He performs and leads the 'The Tyler Mitchell Trio' since it's founding in 2003, featuring Gabriel Hernandez and Alex Kautz. In 2005 Tyler Mitchell Quintet with Gabriel Hernandez.
In 2008 he starts 'The TamoTyler Experience' a psychedelic jazz band with singer-performer TaMo TuMa, Ken Basman, Hernan Hecht.
In 2012, he records his first CD as a leader "Tyler Mitchell Live At Smalls" for the Small's Live Record label. As of 2016, Tyler continues to be in demand as both a leader and sideman in NYC and Internationally.
Tyler Mitchell Selected Press and Reviews
NEW!
A Conversation with Tyler Mitchell and Marshall Allen Post Genre 2022
Tyler Mitchell ft Marshall Allen - Dancing Shadows Free Jazz Blog 2022
Take Five With Tyler Mitchell All About Jazz Feature 2013
Tyler Mitchell "Live At Smalls" CD review Chicago Reader 2013
Tyler Mitchell "Live At Smalls" CD review JazzTimes 2013
Tyler Mitchell "Live At Smalls" CD review Downbeat 2013 Editors Pick
Tyler Mitchell brings an insider's vantage to "Sun Ra's Journey," with Marshall Allen
Tyler Mitchell's prowess and artistic outlook are the product of a wide-ranging musical pedigree. As a Chicago native who first made his way onto the New York music scene in the mid-1980s, he's fluent in the language of bop as well as the outer regions. This diversity, matched with a driving beat and distinct choice of notes, has distinguished him as the bassist with Grammy-nominated vocalists and NEA Jazz Masters Jon Hendricks and Shirley Horn; all-star drummers Art Taylor and Rashied Ali; and, for over 20 years, the Sun Ra Arkestra.
Mitchell's unique background also makes him the prime candidate to produce the forthcoming album from Arkestra leader and saxophonist Marshall Allen. Through the Smalls Foundation, Allen was awarded the Smalls Masters grant and Mitchell was selected to arrange and build a small ensemble around Allen that will be released as the 97-year-old-saxophonist's fourth overall solo album.
The recording session was held this summer — and, the night after the recording, Allen and Mitchell performed the material for a live audience at Smalls Jazz Club. The sets, ranging from Sun Ra originals, Allen and Mitchell compositions and choice cover songs, were well received by a capacity crowd that came to get a sneak peak of the forthcoming project.
"It came out really beautifully," Mitchell says. "Marshall even tackled some songs that he'd never played before like Thelonious Monk's 'Skippy'."
The seed of Mitchell's socialization as a listener, bassist, and producer started at home. Mitchell's father, Chicago muralist Caton Mitchell, was an avid listener and befriended many musicians, including Clifford Jordan and bassist Donald Raphael Garrett, who became one of Mitchell's first bass teachers.
"When my father painted [at the house] he would have records playing...and I was able to recognize [the sounds of] John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Miles Davis, " Mitchell says. "One day, Donald Garrett came by the house with John Coltrane. I was about four or five years old, but I still remember my father sketching a portrait of Coltrane while he was resting in a chair. So, I was meeting and hearing these guys long before I started even playing the bass."
Early performance experience with fellow Chicagoans and musical stalwarts, like Von Freeman and the members of Association of the Advancement for Creative Musicians (AACM), cultivated and nurtured Mitchell in his early development. With the move to New York, he credits a now obscure street musician and magician known as "Kusinaton" in convincing him to come along and relocate in 1984.
"He told me that he thought the avant-garde players would embrace me quicker than the bebop guys, and I didn't believe him at first," Mitchell says. "When I got to New York, I was playing with guys like Don Braden and Vincent Herring during the daytime in the streets, and at night I would go to the Lower East Side and play in the loft scene with Dennis Charles, Billy Bang and Jemeel Moondoc. If those guys really liked you, they would stick with you. Pretty soon after that, I met Sun Ra."
The late 1980s and early '90s were blazing for Mitchell, as he toured internationally and amassed many of his aforementioned credits. After relocating to Mexico in the late 1990s, he returned to New York in 2011 and rejoined the Arkestra, where he remains. Mitchell is also the featured bassist with pianist and Smalls Jazz Club owner Spike Wilner, drummer Evan Sherman and saxophonist Eric Wyatt.
In our chat, Mitchell shares more about
meeting and playing with Sun Ra and Allen in the 1980s; reflects on his
time with Art Taylor; and gives a few tips to younger musicians
regarding the best ways to stay open to new ideas while learning the
lineage of the music.
Greg Bryant has been a longtime curator of improvisational music. At the age of 3 in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, he was borrowing his father’s records and spinning them on his Fisher Price turntable. Taking in diverse sounds of artistry from Miles Davis, Les McCann, James Brown, Weather Report and Jimi Hendrix gave shape to Greg's musical foundation and started him on a path of nonstop exploration.
https://jazzgeneration.org/blog/tyler-mitchell
March 8, 2021
Jazz Generation
Our next featured artist for our Chats with the Cats is bassist Tyler Mitchell.
Growing up in Chicago, Tyler was introduced to Jazz from an early age. "My earliest music experiences were listening to all the great jazz records my dad played almost nonstop at home. You see, my father was a world renowned artist and muralist; he loved jazz and knew many of the greats." (John Coltrane, Max Roach and Miles Davis but to name a few) "It was only natural that I would play jazz because it's all I heard around the house. I come from Chicago, which has a strong jazz and blues history but my father was my main influence."
Tyler cites a visit from John Coltrane to his house when he was 5 as a reason for following music but never thinks of it as a career. "I never thought of music this way. It is just something that I love to do - that's it."
After studying under Donald Raphael Garrett, Tyler moved to New York, joining the Sun Ra Arkestra to record and tour, and also in Art "Taylor's Wailers".
“Les had a special way of directing the band and orchestrating the band that was unlike anybody else. Sun Ra took me to Europe for the first time - there were a lot of guys there in the band, most I didn't know. It was 4/5 guys in a room - it was a real rough house. I was in the band when all the heavy masters were still alive, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Charles Davis - it was a great time.”
“Sun Ra was a disciplinary - we were practicing 10/12 hours a day. He was a serious task master. He had these really heavy arrangements. A lot of people think his stuff is free playing, we had moments of improvisation, but for the most part we had heavy arrangements. He used to arrange for Fletcher Henderson - that's how he learned. The band rehearsed hard, the horn section was particularly tight. All we did was rehearse when we went on the road.”
Tyler spent over a decade away from New York, I was living in Mexico and travelling through Central America for 10/11 years. It was a culture shock coming back to NY - It was a lot of change, definitely a shock. Many things had changed, I won’t necessarily say for the better for the music, but it definitely changed. There was a whole generation of musicians I didn’t know. "New York is the center of the world. Like the song "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere" New York, New York!! I'm still reaching. I haven't found it yet"
Known for his big sound and mixing old and new jazz concepts, Tyler believes there is a greater need for adaptability with today's musicians. "I think most musicians focus on one genre of jazz. There are not enough jazz artists being versatile. I think we should mix it all up more, because it's all related. It's totally a different scene now with regards to players and academia, which is all cool and everything, but it's really different now - too much emphasis on the school but that’s the way it is. It used to be a lot more on the job training and you’d get your education through the real people. School has the real people too but I guess it's just not like that anymore. Bass players coming up now should be doing it because you love it, try and get out amongst the people rather than just staying amongst friends. I just don’t know if this will be the same coming back after this pandemic. But young and old, I hope that we can all get back to gigging and sharing knowledge.
CD review: Tyler Mitchell Octet & Marshall Allen – Sun Ra’s Journey 2022: Video, CD cover, Photos
Marshall Allen (Photo by William Brown)
Musing on his former bandleader Sun Ra, Tyler Mitchell notes “When a lot of people think of Sun Ra, they think of free, abstract playing – These people forget about his compositional contributions.” On Sun Ra’s Journey Featuring Marshall Allen, Mitchell shines a spotlight on Sun Ra’s compositional prowess, and on the continuous innovation of his renowned bandmate Marshall Allen.
