George Mitchell (cornetist)

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George "Little Mitch" Mitchell (born March 8, 1899 in Louisville (Kentucky) , † May 27, 1972 in Chicago ) was an American cornet player and trumpeter of hot jazz .

Live and act

Mitchell began playing the day's hits on the trumpet when he was twelve in the school band. He then toured Kentucky with a local band and worked on minstrel shows in the southern states before moving to Chicago in 1919. There he was a member of the bands of Tony Jackson (1920), Carroll Dickerson (1923 to 1924), Doc Cook (1926 to 1927) and Dave Peyton (1927), but also took part with Jimmie Noone (1928 to 1929), Lil Hardin Armstrong (1926, New Orleans Wanderers / New Orleans Bootblacks ), Kid Ory (1926) and Johnny Dodds (1927). In 1926 and 1927 he was a member of Jelly Roll Morton's “Red Hot Peppers”, with whom he recorded interpretations of major jazz history such as “Dead Man Blues”, “The Pearls” and “Steamboat Stomp”. Unfortunately he never recorded under his own name, but also made two recordings with Luis Russell's Hot Six . From 1929 to 1931 he was part of Earl Hines' band and, when the working conditions for jazz musicians became difficult during the economic crisis, gave up the profession in 1934 to work as a bankman.

According to Martin Kunzler , the musicians valued him as a “great teacher and trumpeter” ( Jonah Jones ). However, “George Mitchell's sensitive, swinging trumpet playing with its clear, well- arranged chorus work was not sufficiently noticed by the general public” , so that he “remained in the shadow of King Oliver , Louis Armstrong and Henry Red Allen ”.

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personal data
SURNAME Mitchell, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mitchell, Little Mitch (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cornetist and hot jazz trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Louisville (Kentucky)
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1972
Place of death Chicago