Jazz Articles about Eric Mintel

Eric Mintel: Ground Breaker

by Hrayr Attarian
August 8, 2009

The title of a record may be misleading, and even when it promises more than it delivers, it doesn't necessarily mean that the music is of poor quality. Eric Mintel's Ground Breaker does no such thing but it is a solid, well above average effort in the post bop tradition.

The original tunes are all complex, intricate compositions by Mintel, allowing each musician plenty of solo space. The music has the loose swinging beat of 1950s Blue Note recordings, but ...

Take Five With Eric Mintel

by AAJ Staff
April 20, 2009

Meet Eric Mintel: Eric Mintel and the Eric Mintel Quartet have cultivated a distinctive style in jazz, combining an exciting and delicate lyrical sense with a powerful and dramatic musical force. Going beyond the traditional forms and standard techniques of American jazz, this quartet is changing the landscape of jazz and broadening its audience. Instrument(s): piano, alto sax, bass and drumsTeachers and/or influences? Dave Brubeck Bill Evans Duke Ellington Michel Camilo Chick Corea Marian McPartland Bob ...

Eric Mintel: The Way of Jazz

by Eric Mintel
March 28, 2004

For the past ten years I have led my quartet with many great performing opportunities. I've been playing the piano practically from the time I could crawl. My parents could always find me sitting at the piano and making up my own melodies. Composing came very early in life.

Now at age 36, I have a full time and very successful jazz quartet, a top 100 CD titled Hopscotch , a loyal following, performed at the White House ...

Eric Mintel Quartet: Hopscotch

by Dave Nathan
May 1, 2002

Eric Mintel's 4th album features the leader/pianist's compositions except for Dave Brubeck's 1968 penned rarely recorded “Forty Days" and the Duke Ellington/Juan Tizol classic “Caravan". Brubeck's work is an interesting one. It's from a religious oratorio “The Light in the Wilderness". Mintel and group capture the religious intensity of the piece as Neil Wetzel plays with both fervor and passion. A close listen catches a few bars of Brubeck's more familiar work, “In Your Own Sweet Way".

This album gives ...

Eric Mintel Quartet: Live!

by Dave Nathan
July 1, 2001

Eric Mintel's previous albums have shown his attachment to the Dave Brubeck Quartet. While in this his third album he doesn't entirely discard the influence of his icon, there is a decidedly more modern bent to the music. This advanced approach is due in good part to the presence of the hard bop sax of Neil Wetzel.

The play list has four Mintel originals, a couple of standby classics and Mintel's nod to Brubeck, Desmond's classic “Take Five". As is ...