Robert Alan Mintzer (born January 27, 1953) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist, composer, arranger, and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

leader.

Early life

Mintzer was born and raised in a Jewish family in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

, on January 27, 1953. He attended the

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. ...

, Michigan from 1969 to 1970, then was at the

Hartt School of Music The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

, Hartford, Connecticut for two years, before attending the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in m ...

from 1972 to 1974.

Later life and career

Early in his career, Mintzer played in various big bands, including those led by

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

(1975–77),

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Biography Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...

and

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

(1977–79), and Sam Jones (1978–80). While with Rich, he began writing

music, and has since composed and arranged hundreds of pieces. In 2008, Mintzer and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the faculty of the University of Southern California. He is a member of the Grammy award-winning

Yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, e ...

and holds the Buzz McCoy endowed chair of jazz studies at the University of Southern California. In 2014, he agreed, with some persuasion, to become Chief Conductor of the WDR Big Band in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany, sharing the job 50:50 with

Vince Mendoza Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961) is an American composer, music arranger and conductor, and six-time Grammy Award winner. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band K� ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Horn Man'' (Agharta, 1982) * ''Papa Lips'' (Explore, 1984) * ''Incredible Journey'' ( DMP, 1985) * ''Camouflage'' (DMP, 1986) * ''Spectrum'' (DMP, 1988) * ''Urban Contours'' (DMP, 1989) * ''Art of the Big Band'' (DMP, 1991) * ''I Remember Jaco'' ( Novus, 1992) * ''One Music'' (DMP, 1991) * ''Departure'' (DMP, 1993) * ''Only in New York'' (DMP, 1994) * ''Twin Tenors'' (Novus, 1994) * ''The First Decade'' (DMP, 1995) * ''Big Band Trane'' (DMP, 1996) * ''Live at the Berlin Jazz Festival'' (Basic, 1996) – recorded in 1987 * ''Latin from Manhattan'', (DMP, 1998) * ''Quality Time'' (TVT, 1998) * '' Homage to Count Basie'' (DMP, 2000) * ''Bop Boy'' (Explore, 2002) * ''Gently'' (2003) * ''Live at MCG with Special Guest Kurt Elling'', (

MCG Jazz Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG) is a nonprofit art, education, and music organization established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1968. Courses include ceramics, photography, digital arts, and painting to over 500 young people each year and 3, ...

, 2004) * ''Hymn'' (Mesa, Blue Moon, Owl, Universal, 1992, 2006) * ''Old School: New Lessons featuring Kurt Elling'', (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner (recording engineer), Jack Renner and Robert Woods (producer), Robert Woods. ...

/MCG Jazz, 2006) * ''Source'' (Explore, 1982, 2007) * ''Longing'' (

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown, ...

, Owl, Universal, Sunnyside, 2003, 2006, 2007) * ''In the Moment'' (Art of Life, 2007) * ''Universal Syncopations'', Vol. 2 (

ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathemat ...

, 2007) * ''Swing Out'', (Telarc/MCG Jazz, 2008) * ''La Vita e Bella'' (Abeat, 2009) * ''Canyon Cove'', (2010) * '' The Hudson Project'' (Concord Midline/ Stretch/Universal, 2011) * ''For the Moment'', (MCG Jazz, 2012) * ''Get Up'' (MCG Jazz, 2015) * ''All L.A. Band'' (Fuzzy, 2016) * ''Meeting of Minds'' with

New York Voices New York Voices is a jazz vocal group that was founded in 1987 by Peter Eldridge, Caprice Fox, Sara Krieger, Darmon Meader, and Kim Nazarian. All except Krieger were members of an alumni group from Ithaca College that toured Europe in 1986. They ...

(

, 2018)

As co-leader

With

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

Darek Oleszkiewicz Darek Oleszkiewicz (born February 20, 1963), also known as Darek Oles, is a jazz bassist, composer, arranger, and educator. Biography Oleszkiewicz was born in Wrocław, Poland, on February 20, 1963. He lived in Kraków in the early 1980s, then ...

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...

* ''Standards 2: Movie Music'' (Fuzzy Music, 2010) With

* ''Greenhouse'', 1991 * ''Live Wires'', 1992 * ''Like a River'', 1993 * ''Runferyerlife'', 1994 * ''Collection'', 1995 * ''Dreamland'', 1995 * ''Blue Hats'', 1997 * ''Club Nocturne'', 1998 * ''Priceless Jazz Collection'', 1998 * ''The Best of Yellowjackets'', 1999 * ''Mint Jam'', 2002 * ''Time Squared'', 2003 * ''Peace Round'', 2003 * ''Altered State'', 2005 * ''Twenty Five'', 2006 * ''Lifecyle featuring

Mike Stern Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, ...

'', 2008 * ''Timeline'', 2011 * ''A Rise in the Road'', 2013 * ''Cohearance'', 2016 * ''Raising Our Voice featuring Luciana Souza'', 2018

As sideman

With the GRP All-Star Big Band *GRP All Star Big Band: '' GRP All-Star Big Band'' (GRP, 1992) * GRP All-Star Big Band: ''

Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live! ''Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live!'' is a jazz album by the GRP All-Star Big Band. Track listing Personnel * Dave Grusin – piano * John Patitucci – bass * Dave Weckl – drums * Gary Burton – vibraphone * Tom Scott � ...

'', (GRP, 1993) * GRP All-Star Big Band: ''

All Blues "All Blues" is a jazz composition by Miles Davis first appearing on the influential 1959 album ''Kind of Blue''. It is a twelve-bar blues in ; the chord sequence is that of a basic blues and made up entirely of seventh chords, with a VI in the t ...

'', (GRP, 1995) With Others * Sam Jones: '' Something New'' (Interplay, 1979) *

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

: '' Invitation'' (Warner Bros., 1983) * Miroslav Vitouš: '' Universal Syncopations II'' (

, 1995) *

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

: '' Bang!Zoom'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

, 1995) * Nova Bossa Nova: ''Jazz Influence'' (

Arkadia Jazz Arkadia Records is an independent record label that was founded in 1996. The label was founded in New York City by Bob Karcy, who had been a manager for musicians and an independent record producer. The first release was Billy Taylor's ''Music Kee ...

, 1997) *

Toninho Horta Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo (born December 2, 1948) is a Brazilian jazz guitarist and vocalist. In addition to composing and performing his own work, Horta has worked for many years as arranger or sideman for Brazilian artists such as El ...

: ''From Ton to Tom'' (Video Arts Music, 1998) *

: ''A Day Like This'' (

, 2007) * The Sean J. Kennedy Quartet: ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' (Lost World, 2007) *

Tohpati Tohpati Ario Hutomo (born 25 July 1971) is an Indonesian jazz guitarist and songwriter. He is known as one of the most famous jazz guitarists in Indonesia.Tohpati biography http://www.gitaris.com/Tohpati.p He has collaborated with many Indonesia ...

: ''Save the Planet'' (Ethnomission, 2010) *

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...

: '' The Gate'' (

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, 2011) *

Dewa Budjana I Dewa Gede Budjana (born August 30, 1963) is an Indonesian guitarist, songwriter and composer. He is the lead guitarist and songwriter of the band Gigi. Budjana's style changed dramatically to jazz as he got to know John McLaughlin, Pat Met ...

: ''Joged Kahyangan'' ( Moonjune, 2013) * Kait Dunton: ''Mountain Suite'' (Real & Imagined, 2012) * Roberto Tola: Bein' Green (RT Music, 2017) * Denis Krupin: '' Path To Light'' (2021)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mintzer, Bob American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz bass clarinetists American jazz bandleaders American jazz composers American male jazz composers Bass clarinetists Big band bandleaders Grammy Award winners Jazz arrangers Living people Go-go musicians Musicians from New Rochelle, New York 1953 births Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians GRP All-Star Big Band members Yellowjackets members Nova Bossa Nova members