profile
Frank Mitchell, Jr opened several shows for Thievery Corporation on the band’s latest tour of the US. He was also able to take time out of his busy schedule to stop by the Turnstyle studio for an interview. Check it out here.
Frank Mitchel, Jr.’s “Booty Lock” EP is available on 7″ vinyl and for download now in our webshop.
Prepare to get booty locked! ESL Music presents the debut EP “Booty Lock” by Frank Mitchell Jr.! A mysterious rogue hailing from Washington DC, Frank Mitchell Jr. has a voice like honey and the sensibilities of a man that’d make Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield blush. Side A features the no-nonsense roller-skating disco jam “Booty Lock.” Rubbery bass, wah-wah guitars, and silky horns don’t even begin to describe the naughtiness within. The B side, in this case “B” for “bad ass,” features “Body and Mind” another future soul classic. Just get a little closer and let the rhythm grab you by the hips and draw you in!
Bio
Hustler. Smooth operator. Silky vocalist. Master saxophone player. How many ways can we describe Frank Mitchell Jr.? He has arrived in our time from another era; an era of big lapels and even bigger Afros. Frank Mitchell Jr. brings the soul and the funk, and he ain’t taking no lip. Frank Mitchell Jr. is a man with a mysterious past. Raised in a Washington DC orphanage he never knew his parents and had to shape his own identity from the urban music culture around him. Blues, jazz, go-go, r&b, and soul music are threads in the fabric of Frank Mitchell Jr.’s very being; and perhaps even his tailored suit. As a young boy Frank Mitchell Jr. came to the attention of the director for the Boys Choir of the National Cathedral. He spent years singing as a Soprano there, until his voice began changing. Finding himself at a crossroads, he picked up an old tenor saxophone and found his new calling. He began to win chairs in various city honor bands, and then moved on to professional gigs with many roving blues and r&b artists. Much cash was blown in late-night dice games, but the streets wouldn’t hold him back. Having moved on to play with local reggae/funk favorites See-I and Thievery Corporation’s legendary live stage band (and even dropping some red-hot saxophone licks on Thievery Corporation’s album Radio Retaliation) Frank Mitchell Jr. is now ready to strike out with his own solo music project. Re-energized and finding his singing voice again, Frank Mitchell Jr.’s The Booty Lock EP represents a rebirth and a new movement in funk and soul. Produced by Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation and featuring a fiery studio back up band comprised of various local musical rogues, “Booty Lock” is set to light dance floors ablaze. No question. Let the rhythm grab you by the hips and draw you in. Don’t resist. Frank Mitchell Jr. knows what he wants and he ain’t takin’ no lip!
