The Mitchell-Ruff Duo

by Scott YanowPianist Dwike Mitchell and bassist Willie Ruff (who was also a talented French horn player) first met in the late 1940s when they were serving in the Army and playing in a band at the Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio. In 1954 they were both members of Lionel Hampton's Big Band and within a year they broke away to form the Mitchell-Ruff Duo. The Mitchell-Ruff Duo has since worked on and off for over 40 years. The high points of its existence include a touring the Soviet Union in 1959 (they were the first U.S. jazz musicians in Russia since World War II, helping to pave the way for Benny Goodman's tour of 1962), playing for Lyndon Johnson in Mexico in 1966, visiting China in 1981 and recording in a trio with Dizzy Gillespie. The Mitchell-Ruff Duo have recorded for Epic (1955-56 and 1966), Roulette (1957-60), Atlantic (1961 and 1965), Mainstream (1969) and Kepler (1983).