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Jazz Articles about Bob Mintzer
Buddy Rich: Birdland
by Glenn Astarita
There's usually a reason why previously unreleased material was never initially offered for consumer consumption, whether it's due to subpar sound quality, less than adequate material or blasé musicians' outtakes and so on. However, these tracks by the Buddy Rich Killer Force band were recorded at various venues through the years when saxophonist Alan Gauvin--who also penned the album notes --was in the band and recorded these performances for posterity and not initially intended to be sold. Gauvin doesn't recall ...
Continue ReadingBob Mintzer Big Band: Get Up!
by Jack Bowers
Even after more than three decades as a big-band leader, and with twenty well-received albums under his belt, Grammy winner Bob Mintzer keeps pushing the envelope, tweaking his recipe and exploring new ways in which to challenge himself and his sidemen while seducing the listener's ear. Known among other things for his fondness for Latin music, Mintzer has chosen instead on Get Up!, recorded live in October 2014 at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, to plunge headlong into the pulsating realm ...
Continue ReadingBob Mintzer Big Band: Get Up!
by Dan Bilawsky
Funk and R&B are the dominant sonic strains on Get Up!--saxophonist-composer Bob Mintzer's twentieth big band release overall and his fifth for the MCG Jazz imprint. In October of 2014, Mintzer took to the stage for two nights at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, armed with some of his grooving big band arrangements and accompanied by a group of his heavy hitter musician friends--Yellowjackets, big band mainstays, and studio greats among them. The music they made, captured here ...
Continue ReadingDewa Budjana: Joged Kahyangan
by Ian Patterson
A million-selling artist in Indonesia with pop-rock band Gigi, guitarist Dewa Budjana's solo projects informed by progressive rock, Indonesian folk and jazz fusion reveal a greater spirit of adventure. Budjana's second release of 2013 on the MoonJune label following Dawai in Paradise is similarly melodic, though differs significantly. Firstly, the word-fusion-meets-prog rock of Dawai in Paradise gives way to a more overtly contemporary jazz approach on Joged Kahyangan. Secondly, whereas the earlier release featured predominantly Indonesian musicians, Budjana harnesses heavyweight ...
Continue ReadingBob Mintzer: Amazing Reach
by Bob Kenselaar
For about half of his four decade-long career in jazz, Bob Mintzer has been a member of the Yellowjackets, one of the most enduring, distinctive and creative bands in contemporary jazz. But, oddly enough, this association is a relatively small slice of Mintzer's remarkably multifaceted life in music as a saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator and leader of his own big bands and small groups. For Mintzer, the phrase “busy as a bee" certainly applies.Born in 1953 ...
Continue ReadingBob Mintzer Big Band: For The Moment
by Dan Bilawsky
Musicians can consider themselves lucky if they find success in one particular area, but there are a select few that seem to flourish in every music-related environment that they encounter. Bob Mintzer is part of this elite list; his versatility is his greatest virtue but, while he's a world class saxophonist and educator, his legacy will likely be connected to his work as a composer and arranger in the world of big bands. He learned from the best, sitting in ...
Continue ReadingGianluca Esposito: Biancoscuro
by AAJ Italy Staff
Sono passati un paio di anni dall´incontro con Steve Grossman, documentato su disco. Gianluca Esposito ne ha approfittato per continuae a crescere, per dimostare a sé stesso ed al pubblico che è arrivato ad un ottimo livello di tecnica strumentale e che le sue composizioni ed il modo in cui dirige il gruppo sono quelli di un navigato musicista. Il gruppo messo insieme per il disco presenta tre ospiti, utilizzati in modo molto smaliziato, quasi avesse scritto pensando alla loro ...
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