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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 and ...

leader.

Early life

Mintzer was born and raised in a Jewish family in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

, on January 27, 1953. He attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, Michigan from 1969 to 1970, then was at the Hartt School of Music, Hartford, Connecticut for two years, before attending the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

from 1972 to 1974.

Later life and career

Early in his career, Mintzer played in various big bands, including those led by Buddy Rich (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". Early life, family and education Thad Jones was born i ...

and Mel Lewis (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 and holds the Buzz McCoy endowed chair of jazz studies at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. In 2014, he began sharing the role of Chief Conductor of the WDR Big Band in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany with Vince Mendoza.

Discography

As leader

* ''Source'' (Agharta, 1982) * ''Horn Man'' (Agharta, 1982) * ''Papa Lips'' (Eastworld , 1983) * ''Incredible Journey'' ( DMP, 1985) * ''Camouflage'' (DMP, 1986) * ''Spectrum'' (DMP, 1988) * ''Urban Contours'' (DMP, 1989) * ''Hymn'' (Owl, 1991) – rec. 1990 * ''Art of the Big Band'' (DMP, 1991) * ''I Remember Jaco'' (

Novus Novus (Latin, 'new') may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Novus Biologicals, later Bio-Techne, an American biotech company * Novus Entertainment, a Canadian telecommunications company * Novus International, an animal health and nutrition ...

, 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) – rec. 1987 * ''Latin from Manhattan'', (DMP, 1998) * ''Quality Time'' (TVT, 1998) * '' Homage to Count Basie'' (DMP, 2000) * ''Bop Boy'' (Explore, 2002) * ''Gently'' (DMP, 2002) * ''Live at MCG with Special Guest Kurt Elling'', ( MCG Jazz, 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 and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

/MCG Jazz, 2006) * ''Longing'' ( EmArcy, Owl, Universal, Sunnyside, 2003, 2006, 2007) * ''In the Moment'' (Art of Life, 2007) * ''Universal Syncopations'', Vol. 2 ( ECM, 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 ( MCG Jazz, 2018)

As co-leader

With

Peter Erskine Peter Clark 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 d ...

, Darek Oleszkiewicz, Alan Pasqua * ''Standards 2: Movie Music'' (Fuzzy Music, 2010)

As a member

Yellowjackets * ''Greenhouse'' (MCA, 1991) * ''Live Wires'' (GRP, 1992) – live * ''Like a River'' (GRP, 1993) * ''Runferyerlife'' (GRP, 1994) * ''Collection'' (1995) * ''Dreamland'' (Warner Bros., 1995) * ''Blue Hats'' (Warner Bros., 1997) * ''Club Nocturne'' (Warner Bros., 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 (2008) * ''Timeline'' (2011) * ''A Rise in the Road'' (2013) * ''Cohearance'' (2016) * ''Raising Our Voice'' featuring Luciana Souza (2018) 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!'', (GRP, 1993) * GRP All-Star Big Band: '' All Blues'', (GRP, 1995)

As sideman

* Buddy Rich, ''Buddy Rich'' (PolJazz, 1977) – live * Sam Jones, '' Something New'' (Interplay, 1979) *

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

, '' Invitation'' (Warner Bros., 1983) – live rec. 1982 *

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

, '' Bang!Zoom'' ( Blue Note, 1995) * Nova Bossa Nova, ''Jazz Influence'' ( Arkadia Jazz, 1997) * Toninho Horta, ''From Ton to Tom'' (Video Arts Music, 1998) * Miroslav Vitouš, '' Universal Syncopations II'' ( ECM, 2007) – rec. 2004–05 * New York Voices, ''A Day Like This'' ( MCG Jazz, 2007) * The Sean J. Kennedy Quartet, ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' (Lost World, 2007) * Tohpati, ''Save the Planet'' (Ethnomission, 2010) * Kurt Elling, '' The Gate'' ( Concord, 2011) – rec. 2010 * Kait Dunton, ''Mountain Suite'' (Real & Imagined, 2012) * Dewa Budjana, ''Joged Kahyangan'' ( Moonjune, 2013) * Roberto Tola, Bein' Green (RT Music, 2017) * Denis Krupin, '' Path To Light'' (2021)
Michel Cury
''Night Travel'' (2024)

References

External links

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