Blue Mitchell’s ‘The Thing To Do’ Gets Reissue

Blue Mitchell’s 1964 album The Thing To Do is getting reissued as an April title in Blue Note Records’ Classic Vinyl Reissue Series. The Thing To Do was the trumpeter’s debut for the label and showcased his soulful, swinging sound across an array of tunes that range from hard bop to ballads to Calypso.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

On The Thing To Do, Mitchell performs as part of a quintet with Junior Cook on tenor saxophone, Chick Corea on piano, Gene Taylor on bass, and Al Foster on drums.

Within five years of learning how to play the trumpet, Mitchell was recording professionally for Blue Note Records. Raised in Miami, Mitchell began recording for the label as part of pianist Horace Silver’s trailblazing hard-bop quintet in 1958, playing with Cook, Taylor, drummer Roy Brooks, and others. On nights without a Silver booking, Mitchell led variations of the quintet during performances at Birdland and or the Village Gate. In 1964, after the dissolution of Silver’s group, Mitchell formed a group of his own with members from the quintet, substituting 23-year-old pianist Corea for Silver and bringing in Foster, who made his recording debut here.

The Thing To Do wasn’t Mitchell’s first Blue Note session as a leader. Shortly after arriving at the label in 1963, Alfred Lion recorded him fronting a sextet including pianist Herbie Hancock and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. The session was shelved for unknown reasons but eventually surfaced as Step Lightly in 1980. Only bassist Taylor was retained from that session for The Thing To Do, recorded eleven months later in June 1964.

Officially, The Thing To Do was the first of eight albums Mitchell recorded during a fertile six-year alliance with the iconic jazz label.

Buy Blue Mitchell’s The Thing To Do on vinyl here.