He began his career as pianist for the Lionel Hampton Orchestra before joining Willie Ruff to form The Mitchell-Ruff Duo jazz group.
With the help of his mother, who made him play exercises and scales, and a cousin, who had been taking piano lessons herself, Mitchell soon displayed an exceptional aptitude for the instrument.
In the spring of 1946, Mitchell enlisted in the armed services and eventually was stationed at Lockbourne Air Force Base.
Lockbourne, at that time an all-black facility, was renowned for its excellent music program, and in particular its concert band and legendary bandmaster John Brice.
But with the help of another pianist at the base, Captain Alvin Downing, he eventually mastered the Grieg score and played the work with the concert band.
"[2]: 75–76 Following his discharge from the Army, Mitchell enrolled in the Philadelphia Musical Academy, where he studied with Hungarian-born pianist Agi Jambor.
On television, he had seen Lionel Hampton's orchestra perform on The Ed Sullivan Show and recognized Mitchell when the camera panned to the pianist.
On the former trip they made a pretext of performing with the Yale Russian Chorus, jazz being prohibited at the time by the Soviet government.
[5]: 301–303 The 1981 trip to China marked the first time Americans had played and conducted workshops on jazz in that country after the Cultural Revolution.