Robert Mitchell: piano

Born in Essex in 1971, Robert studied at City University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. As a graduate of Tomorrow's Warriors and Gary Crosby's Nu Troop, plus award winning funky crossover bands Quite Sane and J-Life, he has forged a formidable reputation as amazingly versatile pianist and composer. It is tempting to compare Robert with Steve Coleman, the saxophonist who began the M-Base group of musicians and who has a major influence on the development of contemporary jazz. But Robert is a very different person whose music is very distinctive. Hence the invitation to play solo in overture to Wayne Shorter and Branford Marsalis concerts. Robert has been nominated twice for BBC Jazz Awards: for Best Newcomer in 2002, and Best New Work in 2003. He has played/recorded with names such as Norma Winstone, Steve Coleman, Courtney Pine, Steve Williamson, Ty, 2 Banks of 4, and IG Culture.

A solo album, Equinox (originally a BBC Radio 3/Jerwood commission), is now available on F-IRE Records.

Press
"Robert, if you didn't know, is a mindblowingly good piano player. His compositions are intricate to the extreme, and he has a reputation for providing his fellow musicians with some of the most challenging music available."
Straight No Chaser

"Spellbinding. A truly remarkable talent. Pianist Mitchell has assembled a totally original-sounding multinational, multicoloured and multirhythmic group. Mitchell and his music deserve to conquer the world!"
Jazz Express

"Breathtaking. The hottest young talent on the London scene."
Weekly Journal

"Surely one of the best of his generation"
Time Out

"Mitchell's piano-playing is like a fusion of a young McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock recast with elements of contemporary British funk and improv,with an unpragmatic indifference to familiar melodies or sitting on grooves all night that's more suggestive of contemporary classical music. Mitchell has appeared in more conventional bands including J-Life and Quite Sane, but once he was running his own show it became clear that this resourceful and erudite pianist/composer's horizons were a great deal wider. The younger British contemporary scene has previously lacked its Steve Coleman,a formidable improvisor/composer bodly searching for new sharp-end jazz forms deploying both straight music and new funk. But in Robert Mitchell the search might be over."
The Guardian (Preview, Jan 2005)

Recordings
Robert Mitchell solo, Equinox, Sept 2007, F-IRE, F-IRE CD15.

http://www.robertmitchellmusic.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/robertmitchellmusic