Jazz Articles about Bob Mintzer

Bob Mintzer: Canyon Cove

by John Kelman
August 21, 2010

Between a bevy of sideman dates, longstanding gigs with Yellowjackets and his own big band, and periodic small ensemble recordings like the unassuming and heartfelt In the Moment (Art of Life, 2007), Bob Mintzer has remained one of the busiest woodwind multi-instrumentalists in jazz for nearly four decades, since first cutting his teeth as youngster with drum legend/mentor Buddy Rich. Largely focusing on the rich bebop tradition and its various offshoots, Mintzer has always managed to remain relevant by placing ...

Bob Mintzer Big Band: Swing Out

by Woodrow Wilkins
September 22, 2008

The Manchester Crafsmen's Guild is both an institution that preserves, presents and promotes jazz, and an organization that produces a long-running, Grammy-winning series known as MCG Jazz. One favorite son of this label is Bob Mintzer, who is also a member of the Heads Up group, the Yellowjackets.Mintzer is a versatile artist who plays a variety of instruments, composes, arranges and appears in session with other artists. He recently joined the faculty at the University of Southern California. ...

Miroslav Vitous: Universal Syncopations II

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 20, 2007

Il titolo dato dal bassista Miroslav Vitous al suo ultimo lavoro, Universal Syncopations II, risulta decisamente fuorviante; non si tratta infatti di un seguito al disco del 2003, col quale non presenta nulla in comune se non gli studi di incisione (appunto, gli Universal Syncopations Studios). Pertanto, chi si aspettasse un'altra esaltante blowing sessions tra cinque dei più grandi musicisti di jazz moderno, com'era il precedente Universal Syncopations, rimarrebbe sicuramente deluso. Siamo in presenza di un'opera ben più ambiziosa: musica ...

Bob Mintzer Quartet: In The Moment

by Christopher Shoe
June 2, 2007

Bob Mintzer has been an active and successful member of the jazz community for some time now. He has been involved in numerous projects ranging from a fifteen-year stint with The Yellowjackets and his local New York big band to countless side gigs and projects with some of the most well-known figures in jazz. Something he has not done in a while, however, is release a small group recording. So after six long years of silence, the Bob Mintzer Quartet ...

Bob Mintzer Quartet: In the Moment

by Jim Santella
April 9, 2007

Fourteen years with the Yellowjackets is only a part of what saxophonist Bob Mintzer represents. He has also led his big band and smaller ensembles through jazz's mainstream time and again over a career that spans more than thirty years of contemporary jazz. His tenor saxophone gives this album a cool quality that turns each melody into a flexible vine that grows around and through the garden.

The occasion for this session was a gathering of friends; thus, ...

Bob Mintzer Quartet: In the Moment

by John Kelman
April 4, 2007

Horror writer Stephen King once wrote that you can drink vintage wine out of a piece of fine crystal or out of a Flintstones jelly glass. The drink is the same but there is a difference. In the realm of mainstream jazz, there's a similar difference between playing all the right notes and actually meaning them. Given the number of mainstream records released every year it's a challenge to separate those that speak the truth from those that simply speak. ...

Yellowjackets: Twenty Five

by AAJ Italy Staff
January 30, 2007

Non sono molti i gruppi musicali che riescono a festeggiare i 25 anni di attività ininterrotta, soprattutto in un campo come quello della fusion, spesso legato a mode estemporanee. Che gli Yellowjackets ci siano arrivati, è un fatto che depone a loro favore, dimostrando la validità e serietà del loro progetto musicale. Della formazione originaria rimangono solo Haslip e Ferrante, ma la musica del gruppo non ha subito grosse variazioni nel corso degli anni, mantenendo nel repertorio live anche molti ...