Strayhorn: A Mitchell-Ruff Interpretation

by The Mitchell-Ruff Duo

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johnedwinmason This album deserves to be much better known. Few people outside of the Ellington orchestra have played Strayhorn better than Willie Ruff and Dwike Mitchell. Strayhorn composed "Suite for the Duo" specifically for them during the last months of his life. Because he had little experience writing for the French horn, he worked closely with Ruff while writing it. It shows a side of him as a composer that few people know. A gorgeous album start to finish.

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	1.	Take The 'A' Train 04:43
	2.	Passion Flower 05:26
	3.	Suite For The Duo 12:42
	4.	Chelsea Bridge 04:30
	5.	Upper-Manhattan Medical Group 03:56
	6.	Rain Check 01:31
	7.	Lush Life 06:40

about

Strayhorn: A Mitchell-Ruff Interpretation
(New York: Mainstream Records, [1970–71])
For six decades, Ruff’s principal collaborator was the remarkable pianist Ivory “Dwike” Mitchell (1930–2013). The Mitchell-Ruff Duo won wide acclaim for its numerous concert tours and recordings. One of their LPs features music by Billy Strayhorn, the composer and arranger who is best known for his work with Duke Ellington. It includes not only tunes made famous by Ellington (such as “Take the A Train”) but also a suite for horn and piano that Strayhorn composed especially for Ruff and Mitchell, not long before his death in 1967. Right after Strayhorn finished a draft of the piece, the Duo performed it for Ellington over the telephone. Ellington offered detailed comments, Strayhorn made revisions, and Ruff and Mitchell played through them, all in the course of a single lengthy (and undoubtedly expensive) long-distance phone call.
-Yale

credits

released January 1, 1971

Bass, French Horn, Producer, Liner Notes – Willie Ruff
Design [Album] – Ruby Mazur's Art Department
Photography By – Dick Sanders
Piano – Dwike Mitchell

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about

The Mitchell-Ruff Duo New York, New York

In 1955 the two men, Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff, left the orchestra to form the Mitchell-Ruff jazz duo.
A distinctive representation of jazz with the french horn, piano and string bass.
At all levels of performance, they maintain a very close, mutually supportive balance, making there music a must for your jazz classic collection. ... more