Bob Mintzer: In the Moment

Bob Mintzer © Andrea Canter

Bob Mintzer can trace the development of his diverse talents to the time he spent listening to records, visiting jazz clubs, and playing clarinet and saxophone as a youth in New Rochelle, NY. Attending music school, he spent hours practicing, then moved on to composing, arranging, songwriting, jamming, “doing all the things that are involved in the learning process.” His first big job forshadowed his work as a big band leader and arranger—playing Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Big Band. From 1978 he led his own big bands, melding traditional lyricism and swing with the more unpredictable character of modern music, and playing with such diverse artists as Jaco Pastorius, Louis Belleson, Art Blakey, Tito Puente, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin and the New York Philharmonic. He joined the Yellowjackets in the early 1990s, and his thirteen Grammy nominations are nearly equally distributed across big band and contemporary jazz categories. In the Moment fits into neither group but is no less a demonstration of Mintzer’s chops as performer, arranger and composer.

Jay Anderson

The two covers appear back to back on the second and third tracks. On Eddie Harris’ “Listen Here,” Mintzer’s gruff vibrato sounds like two horns, especially in the higher register where a slight squeal gives it an edge. Markowitz lets his left hand hold down the fort while his right runs off to the nearest playground. “Time After Time” (Styne and Cahn) is a comfortable post bop journey through a classic tune, Markowitz’ clear articulation and shifting forms keeping the interest high in the piano’s interlude.

John Riley

On the danceable “Play Pretty,” everyone does. The final chorus proves more interesting as Mintzer turns a few phrases inside out to see what will shake loose, pulling it back together before Riley’s final tingle. Mintzer selects the perfect horn to carry the dark and whining melody of “Blues”--nothing speaks of a deep bottomed-out blues with more authority and sympathy than the bass clarinet. As he slides around the storyline, Markowitz wails his own blue theme, and Mintzer returns with more twists and turns, proving that the big horn has more flexibility than is typically demonstrated.

Phil Markowitz, Photo: Dragon Tasic

In the Moment—which aptly describes the collaborative zeal of this quartet—serves as a good reminder that, when he isn’t blowing big band charts or smooth funk with the Yellowjackets, Bob Mintzer is a great straight-ahead tenorman. Good stories well told, even with familiar plots and themes, make for good ensemble efforts and, if not challenging to the ear, are nevertheless thoroughly engaging. In a sea of sax quartet releases, In the Moment rises well above the crowd.

For more about Bob Mintzer, discography and itinerary, visit www.bobmintzer.com