Richard 'Blue' Mitchell

Blue Mitchell was one of the quintessential Hard Bop trumpet players of the 1960s. His crystal-clear tone and impeccable phrasing made him one of the top ballad players of the era, as well as an exceptional soloist in the orchestras and large ensembles with which he frequently recorded. He developed his own blues-soaked composing style during his tenure with the Horace Silver Quintet, a style he honed with his own quintet throughout the '60s.