This album represents a three-way meeting as protracted in the planning as it was successful in the studio.
The patriotic Mitchells —Red, Whitey and Blue— had often talked about getting together for a record session, but it was not until a New York date with the André Previn trio brought the California-based Red temporarily back to New York, where Whitey works and Blue often visits, that the three were able to unite their musical ideas on tape. In fact, even the brothers Red and Whitey had never before had a chance to share a recording date.
"Get Those Elephants Outa Here!" is a title inspired by an exhortation with which Red and Whitey, in the days of their 1952 home practice sessions, were requested by their mother to remove their basses from the Mitchell living room. On this vigorous twelve-bar blues André plays piano, with both Red and Whitey manning the basses. Stereo listeners will hear Red on the left, Whitey on the right, with Red taking the second of the three solo bass choruses. Pepper, Blue, André and Frank Rehak blow three choruses apiece. After a short drum interlude the elephants return with the theme — probably the first jazz work ever designed for interpretation in this particular voicing.
This session was a continuous pleasure to record. Blue, who had just flown up from Florida, got a particular kick out of this union with his unrelated namesakes, and the mood throughout the date was singularly lacking in strain. Though I promised faithfully not to reproduce the corny "Three cheers for Red, Whitey and Blue!" crack uttered by a visitor to the studio, I must confess that the temptation to use it, in the light of the felicitous results of this convention, was unusually strong.
*Leonard Feather (liner notes)*
Bassist Whitey Mitchell is the leader of this fascinating 1958 studio session, which features his better-known older brother, Red Mitchell, on piano and bass, trumpeter Blue Mitchell (no relation), pianist André Previn, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, trombonist Frank Rehak, and drummer Frank Capp. One of just two dates recorded as a leader by Whitey Mitchell prior to his early retirement from jazz, there are plenty of inspired moments on this date. Red's three originals include the amusingly titled "Get Those Elephants Outa Here!" (their mother's favorite quip to get her sons to remove their basses from her living room), which is a lively feature for the two bassists. Red is the pianist on the boppish blues "Three Cheers", while "Fraternity" is a showcase for the two brothers, with both starting on bass and Red eventually switching over to piano. Whitey's tunes include the dark-toned minor-key "Monster Rally" (named in honor of a favorite cartoonist, Charles Addams, whose macabre drawings later led to the creation of the television series The Addams Family) and the easygoing "Blues for Brian", named for his young son. Blue Mitchell shines in Whitey's tasty arrangement of "Moten Swing". Long out of print, this Metrojazz LP will be extremely challenging to acquire. *Ken Dryden*
Side 1
1 - Get Those Elephants Outa Here!
(Red Mitchell)
2 - My One And Only Love
(Wood, Mellin)
3 - In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
(Mann, Hillian)
4 - Moten Swing
(Buster and Bennie Moten)
Side 2
5 - Monster Rally
(Whitey Mitchell)
6 - Three Cheers
(Red Mitchell)
7 - Blues For Brian
(Whitey Mitchell)
8 - Fraternity
(Red Mitchell)
Blue Mitchell (trumpet [#1, #2, #4 to #8]), Frank Rehak (trombone [#1, #2, #4, #5, #7]), Pepper Adams (baritone sax [#1, #2, #4 to #8]), André Previn (piano [#1, #2, #7]), Red Mitchell (piano [#3, #4, #6, #8], bass [#1, #2, #5, #7]), Whitey Mitchell (double bass), Frank Capp (drums).
Recorded in New York City, October 6, 1958.
