RIP Mitchell
I don't normally post things here on the blog that I didn't record myself, but I'll make a special exception this morning for a special person that we lost early this year. Many of you Christmas music enthusiasts have seen the movie Jingle Bell Rocks! It's all about those of us who enjoy the Christmas music and the hunt for it, as well as the artists who make the music of the season. Well, Mitchell Kezin was the guy who made the movie and featured in most of it. You remember him as the guy who got to Ameoba Records at closing time and finds that the Christmas section during the holidays is more than you can see in just a few minutes. It reminded me of the first time I visited Ameoba Hollywood. It was January, several weeks after Christmas, but they still had a small Christmas section out that I had to spend an hour or so digging through. It's a big dream of mine to make it to any one of the Ameoba stores during the holiday season, but it would be a very expensive trip for sure. I once made it to Manhattan a few weeks before Christmas, and I spent days traipsing through record stores buying whatever looked interesting that I could lay my hands on. Mitchell happened to be in NYC that same weekend and we tried to get together but it never worked out. He was on the other end of the island and I think he was waiting for a package to be delivered that had the one single he needed to finish his annual MerryMix. I remember getting very sick for the second half of the weekend, so that nixed the rest of the weekend to meet up. He and I chatted occasionally and exchanged notes about music. I contributed some minor things to his mixes. One of my great regrets was not taking the time to film a short cameo he asked his friends for to make a short bit in the movie about the vast network of Christmas collectors he knew. I had just started going out with my new girlfriend at the time, and couldn't make the time to film anything. So when people tell me about that movie, I get to tell them that I was almost in it, but wasn't. Anyhow, that's a long winded introduction to this, a tribute mix that was put together by my friend, The King of Jing-A-Ling, in honor of Mitchell. Each track was contributed by someone who had some connection to Mitchell and his movie. My contribution is the very last song, a cover of a track written by Chris Dedrick, an artist who's music featured in the movie even though it's almost unknown to people outside of our little Christmas music clique. Mitchell's annual Christmas mix was frequently finished late at night on Christmas Eve and was only available in WAV format via a giant download. He always promised to make a CD version or a smaller download of it in the next few days after Christmas, but I don't think it ever happened. He was always on to the next thing, whether it was a documentary about Bob Dorough he was actively filming prior to his untimely death or a project about Urbie Green he was thinking about. He also mentioned a follow-up to Jingle Bell Rocks! a time or two, but now that's never going to happen. It's a shame because that movie really helped to make a lot of people like me feel good about what we do. Not that I feel bad, but it starts a lot of conversations in record stores when I walk up to the counter with a giant stack of Christmas records and they start to tell me about this movie I should see... Here's a link to the download, give it a listen and share some memories of Mitchell or his movie in the comments if you like.
Very sad news. I had the privilege of working with Mitchell to put on the UK premiere of Jingle Bell Rocks in 2017. He was larger than life and generous of heart and worked so hard with us on it, even though we were just a bunch of amateurs. Here's a link to an interview from the time which I hope does tge man justice. https://theculturevulture.co.uk/cultures/film-mitchell-kezin/
ReplyDeleteThat's a great interview, thanks! Not sure I'd read that before. Nice little inside joke now all the section headings are Christmas songs that aren't well known. :) Thanks for sharing (and the small shout-out in the article)!
DeleteSo sorry to hear of this. May he rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteoh no. π Mitchell was a really nice guy. this is sad news, especially just hearing about it now, at Christmas time.
ReplyDeleteMan. That movie got me here. Peace.
ReplyDeleteAw man! Thanks for this, I didn't know about the film so I know what I'm doing this week. Thanks Ernie! -Organ
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, if you haven't seen it you're in for a treat. Prepare to feel validated for your love of Christmas music!
DeleteThank you, Ernie! I barely knew Mitchell - just a few emails, and his enthusiastic comments on Facebook. But, his love for the music and support for the community came through loud and clear.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't know him as well as I may have made it sound. Lots of people in the community met him in person at one point or another and I never got to do that. :(
DeleteWow, this post has really taken off, and it's not even my share, I'm just spreading the work of The King from FaLaLaLaLaLa. But I guess it's popular because people can't see it on the forum over there if they aren't members. Glad you all enjoy it, but I don't want to take credit that isn't due me.
ReplyDeleteRest in peace Mitchell and Merry Christmas ππ§Έπ
ReplyDelete