The Mitchell Ruff Duo in the USSR. For the story of the trip, see A Call to Assembly or Time Magazine's "Those Cool Reds" from the Monday, Aug. 31, 1959, issue.
I "found out" about the MItchell /Ruff Duo in the 1970s. Dwike MItchell left us in 2013 and Willie Ruff left just this day. Hearing them live was a milestone for me and I remember it like yesterday. Sail on, Willie Ruff, playing tonight with Dwike Mitchell, somewhere out there in the universe.
I heard the Mitchell Ruff Duo as a student in college in1983 and it changed my life forever. I will soon celebrate forty years as a jazz pianist and these two gentlemen have been two of my most profound and enduring influences. Thank God for sharing your gifts!
Yes! I was there in 1959 as they were traveling with the Yale Russian Chorus. Amazing to see this again... The Funny Part was that whenever we Americans would applaud a particularly brilliant riff, the Russians would shush us , saying "They are not finished yet!"
Both outstanding artists, and Willie Ruff fluent in Russian to boot. Apparently, back in 1959, Russians could not understand improvisation; they felt it all had to be written out.
Heard the duo in Moorhead, MN. Have been listening since. Fabulous musicians!!🎉
I "found out" about the MItchell /Ruff Duo in the 1970s. Dwike MItchell left us in 2013 and Willie Ruff left just this day. Hearing them live was a milestone for me and I remember it like yesterday. Sail on, Willie Ruff, playing tonight with Dwike Mitchell, somewhere out there in the universe.
I heard the Mitchell Ruff Duo as a student in college in1983 and it changed my life forever. I will soon celebrate forty years as a jazz pianist and these two gentlemen have been two of my most profound and enduring influences. Thank God for sharing your gifts!
Forty years as a pianist, must be wonderful.
I remember seeing them in Leningrad Philharmonic Hall as a young teenager. Got a jazz bug forever!!
Yes! I was there in 1959 as they were traveling with the Yale Russian Chorus. Amazing to see this again...
The Funny Part was that whenever we Americans would applaud a particularly brilliant riff, the Russians would shush us , saying "They are not finished yet!"
Superbly original duo
I saw them several times in Birdland. Marvelous.
Unfortunately this video has some bad cuts.
Both outstanding artists, and Willie Ruff fluent in Russian to boot. Apparently, back in 1959, Russians could not understand improvisation; they felt it all had to be written out.
19:40
GIANTS!!