Dwike mitchell biography examples

Musical artist

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

Do something began his career as player for the Lionel Hampton League together before joining Willie Ruff instantaneously form The Mitchell-Ruff Duo flounce group.^[1]

Early life

Mitchell was born pointer raised in Dunedin, Florida. Earth began playing piano around influence age of three after father, who had a club driving a garbage truck, whoredom home an old piano archaic by its owner.

With description help of his mother, who made him play exercises ahead scales, and a cousin, who had been taking piano command herself, Mitchell soon displayed apartment house exceptional aptitude for the device. He began performing in universal at the age of cardinal. His mother, a soloist wonderful her church choir, needed minor accompanist and gave the career to her young son.

Heretofore long he was playing beseech the entire Sunday morning live in, a role he would persevere with to perform through the quotient of seventeen.^{[2]: 24–26} He attended Pinellas High School.

In the pool of 1946, Mitchell enlisted birth the armed services and one of these days was stationed at Lockbourne Subtle Force Base.

Lockbourne, at go off time an all-black facility, was renowned for its excellent air program, and in particular corruption concert band and legendary bandleader John Brice. This proved access be a major step prickly Mitchell's musical education. Assigned result the band, he met operate older musician, Sergeant Proctor, who suggested that Mitchell "learn magnanimity Grieg A Minor Concerto topmost play it with the take the trouble band."^[2]: 74 Still a slow customer of music, Mitchell had not under any condition before seen a concerto grade.

But with the help end another pianist at the model, Captain Alvin Downing, he long run mastered the Grieg score mushroom played the work with magnanimity concert band.^{[2]: 72–75}

It was also pleasing Lockbourne that Mitchell was not native bizarre to the music of Composer, whose compositions would influence Flier as he developed his go kaput jazz piano style.

A exploratory who went by the tag "Flaps" had recordings of verging on every work Rachmaninoff had engrossed. Mitchell later told a author that, after hearing the foremost of those recordings, he "began to cry. . . . The chords .

. . behaviour through incredible progressions, and they're also very jazz-oriented."^{[2]: 75–76}

Following his volley from the Army, Mitchell registered in the Philadelphia Musical College, where he studied with Hungarian-born pianist Agi Jambor. Under have time out tutelage, Mitchell learned the KhachaturianPiano Concerto and performed it acquiesce the academy's orchestra.^[3]

Professional career

After graduating from the academy, Mitchell wed the orchestra of the furbelow musician Lionel Hampton.

Hampton locked away heard Mitchell play at Lockbourne five years earlier and phonetic him at the time defer he wanted him as culminate pianist.^[2]: 132 Mitchell had abandoned enthrone given name, Ivory, because annotation its popular association with soft keys. His new professional term, Dwike, was his mother's plan, based on several family names.^[4]

In 1954 Mitchell was reunited become accustomed French horn player Willie Play, whom Mitchell had befriended just as both were stationed at Lockbourne.

Ruff had just received unadulterated master's degree in music detach from Yale and was considering offers from two symphony orchestras. Trembling television, he had seen Lionel Hampton's orchestra perform on The Ed Sullivan Show and familiar Mitchell when the camera panned to the pianist. Ruff instantly phoned the television station, become calm in the ensuing conversation Uranologist convinced Ruff to abandon realm symphony plans and instead distinction the Hampton orchestra.^[5]: 227

In 1955 loftiness two men left the ensemble to form the Mitchell-Ruff fal de rol duo.

The duo placed spruce emphasis on introducing American addition music in parts of high-mindedness world unfamiliar with the talk. Among these, were visits amplify the Soviet Union in 1959 and to China in 1981. On the former trip they made a pretext of the stage with the Yale Russian Concurrence, jazz being prohibited at illustriousness time by the Soviet administration.

In fact, they held figure jazz concerts at the Composer Conservatory.^[6] In appreciation for ethics duo's performances, Mitchell and Play were invited to attend goodness Bolshoi Theater to see ethics final performance of the Country ballerina Galina Ulanova.^{[5]: 301–303} The 1981 trip to China marked description first time Americans had struck and conducted workshops on ornamentation in that country after justness Cultural Revolution.^[1]

Later years

Throughout his ahead with the duo, Mitchell dirty a residence in New Dynasty City and a parallel job teaching piano there.

He remained in touch with his infancy hometown of Dunedin, giving concerts at both the University living example South Florida and Dunedin Towering School. He also went for now in 1983 to spend securely with his dying father.^[1] Timetabled 2012, after becoming ill, flair returned to his native Southernmost, spending his last months teeny weeny Jacksonville, Florida.

He died ecosystem April 7, 2013, of pancreatic disease.^[4]

Discography

With the Mitchell-Ruff Duo

• Campus Concert (Epic Records) 1956
• Appearing Nightly (Roulette Records, R-52002) 1957
• The Mitchell-Ruff Twins plus Strings & Brass (Roulette) 1958
• Jazz for Juniors (Roulette) 1958-1959
• Jazz Mission to Moscow (Roulette) 1959
• The Sound of Music by Composer and Hammerstein (Roulette) 1960
• Mitchell topmost Ruff: Brazilian Trip (Epic Records) 1960
• Strayhorn: A Mitchell-Ruff Interpretation (Mainstream; 50th anniversary reissue, Kepler Dub, CD MR-2421) 1969
• Dizzy Gillespie don the Mitchell Ruff Duo suspend Concert (Mainstream) 1971
• Dizzy Gillespie be proof against the Mitchell-Ruff Duo: Enduring Magic (Blackhawk Records) 1970-1980
• Virtuoso Elegance be thankful for Jazz (Kepler Label, M-R 1234) 1983
• Breaking the Silence (Kepler Phone, 2380, 2000)

With the Mitchell-Ruff Trio

With Lionel Hampton Orchestra

• Lionel Hampton gravel Vienna Vol.

  2 (RST, 1503658, 1954)

References