LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Firmly established by Big 6 (OJCCD-615-2) as a new star in the Riverside stable of artists, Blue Mitchell in late 1958 took Benny Golson and a stellar rhythm section into the studio for Out of the Blue. Having been heralded by Cannonball Adderley as “something different,” Mitchell brought to modern jazz an uncloying and nostalgic sweetness that predated the bebop trumpet heroes who influenced but did not dominate his style. Golson’s tenor saxophone playing, full of muscle and liquidity, made a fine match and foil for Mitchell. Some of Golson’s best work of the period is in this album. They are handsomely supported by pianist Wynton Kelly, drummer Art Blakey, and bassists Paul Chambers and Sam Jones.
Track listing:Blues on My Mind, It Could Happen to You, Boomerang, Sweet-Cakes, Missing You, When the Saints Go Marching In, plus CD bonus track Studio B