2024 reissue as part of the Blue Note Tone Poet Series, originally released in 1965 - During an era when hard bop giants roamed the earth, trumpeter Blue Mitchell was overshadowed by his more brash contemporaries such as Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. While Mitchell may have not been the most daring hard bop trumpeter, he was unquestionably one of the most steady and reliable.
Consistency is the name of Mitchell's game. His tone is focused and relaxed, and beautifully rounded in all registers. His melodic lyricism and fleet-fingered fluidity are second to none. After spending over five years in pianist Horace Silver's Quintet, Mitchell and his frontline mate, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, matriculated in 1964 to form their own group.
Following its classic The Thing to Do (Blue Note, 1964), the Mitchell Quintet re-emerged in 1965 with the equally exciting Down With It!. Mitchell and company waste no time getting started, jumping head first into an R&B version of "Hi-Heel Sneakers. In the mid 1960s, too many commercially driven, artistically void throwaways were recorded as Blue Note searched for their next "Sidewinder -esque jukebox smash. In the wrong hands, "Hi-Heel Sneakers could have easily fallen into this trap, yet Mitchell's group is both groovy and sophisticated. Pushed by Al Foster's incessantly hard-driving ride cymbal, the energy level is high and there is inspired blowing all around. Mitchell displays his command of the blues in short motivic statements that get seriously funky. - Matt Leskovic
| A1 | Hi-Heel Sneakers |
| A2 | Perception |
| A3 | Alone, Alone And Alone |
| B1 | March On Selma |
| B2 | One Shirt |
| B3 | Samba De Stacy |
