Mitchell, Louis (A.)
Mitchell, Louis (A.)
Mitchell, Louis (A.), pioneering early jazz drummer, leader; b. Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 17, 1885; d. Washington, D.C., Sept. 12, 1957. Mitchell moved to N.Y. in 1912, and formed the Southern Symphonists’ Quintet, credited as the first jazz band in the city. He took the group to Europe in summer of 1914, where it had a residency at London’s Piccadilly Restaurant, the first African-American band to play there. He returned to N.Y. that fall, but was back in Britain in May 1915 with Don Kildare. He returned to the U.S. to tour in a variety act called “Jordan and Mitchell,” and then did a solo act playing drums. In January 1917, he formed the Syncopating Septette, which made its debut in Glasgow; it subsequently played at the London Palladium that summer before appearing in France. Mitchell returned to the U.S. in 1918, to sing with James Reese Europe’s Band. However, he soon organized his own Jazz Kings and once again was working in Europe. During the 1920s, his band played long residencies in Paris, including a five-year spell at the Casino de Paris. During the 1930s Mitchell organized several business ventures in Europe. He owned and operated the famous Paris-based Grand Due Club, which he reportedly won in a crap game. He returned to the U.S. in the late 1930s, although by then he had abandoned music making as a career.
—John Chilton (Who’s Who of Jazz)/Lewis Porter