Music
Billy Mitchell
1926–2001 · jazz tenor saxophonist, bandleader
Detroit-raised tenor saxophonist who led the Blue Bird Inn house band from 1951 to 1954, with Miles Davis as guest, before joining Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie.
- Born
Kansas City, Missouri- Died
Rockville Centre, New York
aged 74- Birth name
- William Melvin Mitchell
- Also known as
- The Colossus of Detroit
- Detroit years
- 1930s–1956
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Mitchell's family moved from Kansas City to Detroit when he was young, and he got his early musical training at Cass Technical High School. He formed a close partnership with trumpeter Thad Jones and worked in big bands including Woody Herman's, where he replaced Gene Ammons, and in 1949 recorded with Milt Buckner and on Milt Jackson's Savoy dates. From 1951 to 1954 he led the house band at the Blue Bird Inn on Tireman Avenue, the heart of Detroit bebop. The group changed shape often: with drummer Oliver Jackson and his bassist brother Ali; as a quartet with pianist Terry Pollard, bassist Beans Richardson and Elvin Jones; as a quintet with Thad Jones; and for several months in 1953 with Miles Davis as guest soloist. He then joined Dizzy Gillespie's big band (1956–1957) and Count Basie (1957–1961 and 1966–1967), co-led a sextet with Al Grey, and later recorded the album The Colossus of Detroit.
Highlights
- Studied music at Cass Technical High School
- Led the Blue Bird Inn house band, 1951–1954
- Tenor saxophonist with Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie
- The Al Grey–Billy Mitchell Sextet won Down Beat's new band award (1962)
- Album The Colossus of Detroit (Xanadu, 1978)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1951–1954
Blue Bird Inn
Closed
The Tireman Avenue bebop club where Mitchell led the house band, with Miles Davis sitting in for several months in 1953.
Studied here · 1940s
Cass Technical High School
Detroit's magnet high school, where Mitchell received his early music education.