Richard Allen “Blue” Mitchell was on the planet from 1930 to 1979. He was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpet player. If I can still count, he had 27 albums as a leader, and a bunch more as a sideman. He recorded for Riverside, Blue Note and Mainstream Records.
Big 6 appears to be his first album as a leader, released April 2, 1959 in the hard bop category. Personnel, in addition to Mitchell, are: Curtis Fuller (trombone); Johnny Griffin (tenor saxophone); Wynton Kelly (piano); Wilbur Ware (bass); and Philly Joe Jones (drums).
The AllMusic biography says this, which may explain why I had never heard of him.
Owner of a direct, lightly swinging, somewhat plain-wrapped tone that fit right in with the Blue Note label’s hard bop ethos of the 1960s, Blue Mitchell tends to be overlooked today perhaps because he never really stood out vividly from the crowd, despite his undeniable talent.
Another reason he may be less well known as a jazz trumpeter is that he played, as noted above, in a number of styles.
Probably aware that opportunities for playing straight-ahead jazz were dwindling, Mitchell became a prolific pop and soul session man in the late ’60s, and he toured with Ray Charles from 1969 to 1971 and blues/rock guitarist John Mayall in 1971-1973. Having settled in Los Angeles, he also played big-band dates with Louie Bellson, Bill Holman, and Bill Berry; made a number of funk and pop/jazz LPs in the late ’70s; served as principal soloist for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne.
This is a tune written by Mitchell on the Big 6 album called “Sir John.” Good player.