BLUE MITCHELL - GRAFFITI BLUES (1973)

It was through various straight Jazz Blue Note albums that I got to know Blue Mitchell. Later, in the early nineties, I came across the track 'Dorado'. A sparkling, very funky piece of music and I was surprised to find out that it was Blue Mitchell again. 'Dorado' turned out to be from the album 'Graffiti Blues' and in '93 I bought the CD. The original vinyl contained five tracks, had the artwork I use here today (the cd booklet is simply ugly) and for its digital counterpart, four titles were added: 'Alone Again', 'Where It's At', 'Funky Walk' and 'Blue Funk'. I wonder what it is with 'Alone Again'. The JB's also recorded it... Anyway, 'Graffiti Blues' is a hot album. Mitchell gathered an impressive group of musicians for these sessions (Joe Sample, Joe Beck, Joe Farrell, James Madison, etc etc) and track after track simply kicks ass. Bonus cuts 7, 8 and 9 (arranged and conducted by David Matthews) were all recorded a year later and have a more raw, JB-style sound. Track 6, Gilbert O'Sullivan's 'Alone Again' was added from the original session and is a regular ballad. I can play this album over and over again, simply because it is so damn funky. It's a must for jazz DJs. You can hear the joy these guys must have had recording it. The CD has been long out of print, and can be hard to get by, so let's enjoy it now at 320 Kbps! I'm curious about your replies, folks.

I kinda stole the idea of posting an out of print CD from Smooth, since he recently posted the impossible to find CD 'Black Octopus' by Paul Jackson. Go get it, it's a superb album!