Mitch Towne sees the organ as much more than just being a soulful instrument used to play grease-filled blues. “I feel that the organ is somewhat marginalized in jazz and that there is so much more to the organ than being thought of as a bluesy r&b soul/jazz type of instrument.” On Refuge, his recording debut as a leader, Mitch Towne teams up with his regularly working trio (guitarist Tetsuya Nishiyama and drummer Jeffery Johnson) to perform six of his wide-ranging originals plus a Kenny Kirkland piece.
Mitch loved music from an early age and fondly remembers having a ‘45’ of Freddy Martin’s “Bumble Boogie.” He began playing the piano when he was six and became interested in jazz in high school.
“The earliest jazz record that I bought was the first Chick Corea Elektric Band album which I played incessantly. My college had a fantastic jazz program and that is when I discovered straight ahead jazz including Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock. I soon realized that I did not know enough about music and that I needed to dive in and do my homework.” While in college, Mitch went to New York regularly to study with the masterful pianist Richie Beirach. While the lessons were extremely valuable, the New York lifestyle did not appeal to him and he chose a different path to finding his way in the jazz world.