The Mitchell-Ruff Trio: The Catbird Seat

CML call number: CD/JAZZ/Mitchell
Contents: The Catbird Seat (by Dwike Mitchell), Street of Dreams (by Sam M. Lewis and Victor Young), So in Love (by Cole Porter), Con Alma (by Dizzy Gillespie), Gypsy in My Soul (by Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe), I'll Remember April (by Gene De Paul, Don Arye, and Pat Johnston).
Personnel: Dwike Mitchell, piano; Willie Ruff, bass; Charlie Smith, drums.
From the liner notes by George T. Simon: "Mitchell, a Floridian who graduated from the Philadelphia Musical Academy, and Ruff, an Alabaman who earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Music at Yale (they once played together in Lionel Hampton's big band) joined forces last year with Smith, a New Yorker, who has played for Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Billy Taylor, at a New Haven club called The Playback. It was founded by Ruff himself, 'because we needed a place in which we could work out things the way we wanted to. …'"
Recorded live at The Playback in 1961; re-released on CD in 2002; added to our collection in honor of Mr. Ruff's visit to our library Nov. 5, 2005, when he delivered a talk on the history of music.