Jazz Articles about Bob Mintzer

like 158

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by John Kelman
March 16, 2005

Sometimes the best move a band can make is to go indie. Consider Yellowjackets, who have been imbued with unquestionable instrumental credibility since emerging in the early '80s. Over their 25-year career Yellowjackets have veered from torch carriers of the latter-day, more structured incarnations of Weather Report to a group in dangerous proximity to smooth jazz territory. In the process of racking up nearly twenty recordings, the group's technical prowess has never been in question, but some of its choices ...

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Yellowjackets: Altered State

by C. Michael Bailey
March 15, 2005

Yellowjackets' music is steeped in the R&B/jazz tradition of the Jazz Crusaders, Junior Mance, Weather Report, and, of course Miles. Russell Ferrante always manages to slip a bit of church into his piano playing, a trend quickly picked up and absconded with by Bob Mintzer. Jimmy Haslip plays the most elastic bass since Victor Bailey, and Marcus Baylor must be the toast of the percussion town.

The band members all come together for Altered State in a brilliant ...

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A Double-Barrel of Bob Mintzer

by Elliott Simon
December 4, 2004

The Body Acoustic The Body Acoustic Chesky Records 2004

For The Body Acoustic , pianist David Chesky has wisely engaged Bob Mintzer to play bass clarinet and cleverly given him equal footing with Randy Brecker's muted trumpet. Even in its soaring upper register, the bass clarinet has a beautiful resonance and a deep rich texture just not possible with brass. With an allegiance to Weather Report's I Sing the Body Electric, the session weaves ...

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The Bob Mintzer Big Band: Live at MCG with Kurt Elling

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2004

Bob Mintzer leads a superlative big band with seasoned pros in every chair, but what really gives the engine its get-up-and-go are the maestro's invariably admirable charts, unerring road maps that always ensure a smooth and delightful journey. This first-ever live album by the ensemble, recorded in May '02 at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, PA, is at its best on the half-dozen instrumentals, even though guest vocalist Kurt Elling does what he can to jump-start the other three. ...

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The Abercrombie/Erskine/Mintzer/Patitucci Band: Live in New York City

by John Kelman
June 26, 2004

While Hudson Music is primarily known for their instructional videos and, more recently, DVDs, the fact is that many of their titles, while academically interesting for the student, are worthwhile to the non-musician for their exceptional concert footage. They have been reissuing some of their more popular video titles on DVD, and it's as good a time as any to take stock of what they have to offer. Case in point is the 1998 concert/clinic held by 'supergroup' guitarist John ...

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Bob Mintzer: Gently

by Elliott Simon
December 6, 2003

There are instances as a guy gets older when he thinks he is turning into his father. I had just such a moment as I began to listen to Gently from tenor saxophonist Bob Mintzer's Big Band. I saw myself as my father, listening to his mood music that came in large boxes from Reader's Digest every month. Whereas I used to make light of this particular aspect of his musical taste, as the classical sounding “Gently" with its soft ...

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The Bob Mintzer Big Band: Gently

by Jack Bowers
February 3, 2003

Bob Mintzer, who is known to favor fiery Latin rhythms and big-band charts with an abundance of punch and power, has a softer side too, one that is laid bare on this understated but no less invigorating new release, his fourteenth (or fifteenth? I've lost count) on the dmp label. 'I think I've... reached a point,' Mintzer writes, 'where I can appreciate the subtlety factor in music and in life, where I would just as soon be gently caressed rather ...