Blue Mitchell in Bloomington, MN

After recording for
Blue Note
as both a leader and noted sideman for seven years,
Blue Mitchell
recorded and released his self-titled debut for
Bob Shad
's
Mainstream
label in 1971. (The trumpeter had spent the last year of his
BN
contract not as a leader, but as a sideman on dates by
Lou Donaldson
,
Grant Green
, and
Bobby Hutcherson
). This date -- also known as
Soul Village
-- is somewhat of a retrenchment from the more R&B-infused sounds of 1969's underrated
Collision in Black
and
Bantu Village
(both produced by
Monk Higgins
), and featured his working live quintet with
Jimmy Forrest
on tenor,
Walter Bishop, Jr.
on piano and Fender Rhodes, bassist
Larry Gales
, and drummer
Doug Sides
. While the sound reflects more of his hard bop roots, it also engages readily with soul-jazz, too. As a whole, it offers evidence of a renewed creativity by
Mitchell
as composer -- he wrote two tunes here -- and soloist. The lone cover is a killer version of
Benny Golson
's "Are You Real." Opener "Soul Village," credited here to
but composed by
Bishop
, is colored by the pianist's darkly tinged Latin Rhodes vamp. It's funky, with breakbeats and an excellent late-'60s soul gospel melody. His and
Forrest
's solos are in the pocket, coming right out of hard bop. "Blues for Thelma" is straight hard bop with a wonderfully knotty head from the front line, a hard groove from
, and a great loping solo by
. "Queen Bey" offers traces of both Afro-Cuban son and Nigerian highlife in its slippery, yet driving polyrhythmic attack, but is otherwise a blues. Closer "Mi Hermano" (also a
original that is mis-credited on the sleeve) underscores the Afro-Latin tinge, with
's Rhodes delivering some smoking montunos accented and answered by
Sides
. The front line statement played in unison resembles a chant, yet is expanded by
's soulful, finger-popping solo, followed by excellent ones from
and the trumpeter before the theme returns. This is a solid session, and one of the best in his
catalog. ~ Thom Jurek