it was at this time, while dealing with the
Louisiana Legislature on social welfare
issues, that Arthur finally had what he
termed “my epiphany” at the age of 24.
“That’s when I decided this is not for me.
I am a musician,” he said.
The next step for him was a pivotal
one: he transferred into SUNO’s Music
Department and began studying with
renowned saxophonist and professor,
Kidd Jordan. “He was the best teacher I
ever had. I never needed another one after
him,” Arthur proudly stated. “He was a
guru; a master. He really taught me how
to play my instrument. He didn’t point us
in any direction in terms of which genre
or idiom to pursue. He left that to us. And
whatever style music we wanted to do,
he would give us the tools to incorporate
them into what we wanted to do musically.
“And that’s what I do. I play all genres,”
he added. “Straight-ahead jazz, smooth
jazz, pop, blues, soul, whatever. I don’t
categorize myself.”
During his time at SUNO, Arthur
also studied composition with Roger
Dickerson, acquiring valuable skills that
would later serve him well as a composer
and arranger.
Following graduation from SUNO,
Arthur went on the road for weeks at a
time, touring with Brook Benton as his
band leader and arranger and working
other road gigs throughout the South. But
eventually the strain it was putting on his
home life became too much. By this time
he was married and beginning to feel like
a stranger to his children.
“I immediately got off the road and got
a job teaching music in the Orleans Parish
public schools, he said. “I was able to take
my horn with me and practice by playing
along with the children. I thoroughly
enjoyed teaching and I was able to come
home every night.”
Since his retirement from the school
system, Arthur has been all over the
map, playing nearly everywhere you look.
With his namesake band, The Arthur
Mitchell Experience, he holds down a
steady Wednesday night gig at The Prime
Example nightclub on North Broad Street
and he regularly backs the soul group, Real
Love, as their band director and arranger.
On Sunday mornings at 9:30 and 11:30
he performs for jazz masses at the Shrine
of St. Jude, Our Lady of Guadalupe
Church, on North Rampart Street opposite
the French Quarter, a gig he has been
holding down since the church reopened
after Hurricane Katrina. In addition, he is
frequently called on to fill in with other
established bands around town, especially
for conventions, weddings, festivals,
Carnival balls and other special events.
Arthur is exceptionally close to his
family and proud of the accomplishments
of his four adult children. His oldest son,
Arthur Bernard Mitchell IV, is an Assistant
D.A. in the office of District Attorney
Leon Cannizzaro, and his youngest son,
Perry White Mitchell, M.D., is a medical
doctor at University Medical Center New
Orleans and a talented pianist with “a lot
of natural ability.”
Arthur’s oldest daughter, Gia Guillory,
is a registered nurse, and his youngest
daughter, Arkell Beth Mitchell, is a
teacher in a charter school. His wife of 35
years, Perretta White Mitchell, is a retired
school principal whose last assignment
was at A.P. Tureaud Elementary School.
He also has two grandchildren who he
also loves very much.
“I’m very proud of my kids; all of them,”
he stated. “I was home to help raise them
and that was more important to me than
constantly being on the road playing
music. I needed to be with them when
they were young in those formative years
and I’m glad that I was.”
Summing up his life and career and
the long, winding road it took to get to his
destination, Arthur has no regrets. “I love
where I’m at right now. I’ve got my family,
my music and everything else I need. I’m
a happy man,” he said.
Arthur Mitchell is available for bookings
for private parties, receptions, conventions,
balls and more. Contact him at (504)
508-6080. ��
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ARTHUR MITCHELL
Arthur Mitchell III ,Perry Mitchell MD.,Perretta
Mitchell , Arthur Mitchell IV Esq.
Perretta and Arthur Mitchell
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