* Billy Mitchell; Saxophonist With Basie, Gillespie

Billy Mitchell, 74, a saxophonist who played in bands led by Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman. Born in Kansas City, Mitchell moved to Detroit as a youth and quickly honed his interest in music. Mainly a tenor sax player, he also played alto and soprano saxophone as well as flute and clarinet. He worked with Nat Towles’ band in Detroit and Lucky Millander’s Orchestra in New York in the late 1940s. He replaced Gene Ammons in the Woody Herman Orchestra in 1949. The high point in Mitchell’s career was his stint with the Gillespie band in 1956 and ’57. He played with Basie from 1957 to 1961 and later in the mid-1960s. Mitchell was very active in jazz education in New York City schools and offered seminars at Hofstra University and Yale. He spent more than 30 years as a resident player at a jazz spot in Seaford, N.Y., called Sonny’s Place. On April 18 of lung cancer at his home in Rockville Center, N.Y.