Smitty: Yeah, well, it definitely carries over in the music, that’s for sure.
EM: Thank you.
Smitty: Talk to me a little bit about your love for Duke Ellington.
EM: Oh, Duke Ellington. Well, Duke Ellington’s one of my favorites not only for his jazz, but lately we’ve been doing some of Duke Ellington’s sacred choral works. And this is another side of Duke that I didn’t really know too much about and I didn’t realize how spiritual this man was, and some of these pieces that we’ve been doing with the chorus and my quartet have just been so beautiful and just have been very well attended concerts, and we’re gonna be doing a few more of those. Actually next month, as a matter of fact, I think we’re gonna be doing another one. But Duke was one of these guys that approached jazz in a way that was so entertaining and he just had this infectious thing on people that you would automatically be absorbed in the music when he was playing it. And as a showman he was just absolutely incredible.
Smitty: Yes indeed. I totally agree, my friend and like a few other great musicians, you got an opportunity to perform at the White House for President Clinton. You know, we gotta give President Clinton some serious props.
EM: Oh yeah.
Smitty: Because he put jazz in the White House like nobody’s business, like no other president.
EM: Oh, absolutely.
Smitty: And we really need to give him his share of what he did for jazz when he was in the White House. He really held his own there.
EM: Absolutely. When we performed there—and you said a great thing—there seemed to be a lot more jazz present during his term.
Smitty: Yeah.
EM: And I was just so very, very blessed and very fortunate to have had that happen, and to make a long story short, I basically was thinking about different ways of taking the group to the next level and thinking of some kind of positive outreach that we could take jazz, you know, performing for troops overseas or something like that, performing for the homeless, something, inner city kids, something like that, and so I had written to the White House and asked them if they had any programs like that, and I had sent a CD and everything along and some loose press clippings that we had at the time, and about a week and a half later, after I sent the CD, I got a call and they said “This is the White House. We’d like to invite the Eric Mintel Quartet to the White House for Christmas.”
Smitty: See? Now, that’s what I’m talking about.
EM: Yeah.
Smitty: A week and a half and you’re in the house.
EM: Yeah and I’m there. So it took a little finagling. This was in October and then a month and a half later, we’re there. And it was just an incredible experience and we got a chance to meet President Clinton. This was the funniest thing. So we’re sitting there in I guess I think it’s called the Diplomatic Room and we’re waiting for him to come in to meet him, and so when he came in I gave him a copy of the CD we had at the time, and we got a chance to chat for a few minutes and it was funny ‘cause he looked at the back of the CD and we had a version of “Blue Rondo” on there. (Both laugh.) And so he said “Oh, I just gave Dave Brubeck the National Medal of the Arts Award last month here at the White House and Dave said that I was the only elected official that could sing the bridge to ‘Blue Rondo.’” (Both laugh.) So this guy was so cool that it was just a really, really great experience.
Smitty: Absolutely.
EM: And I was just very, very, very happy to be a part of all that.
Smitty: What a cool guy.
EM: Oh yeah and it was just so great, and just to know that our music is in his collection.
Smitty: Yeah, so tell me now, what was going through your mind? I mean, you’re at the White House, you’ve got the band and, I mean, you’re in the house.
EM: Yeah, well, the funniest thing is when we were there, we were playing for a holiday dinner reception, that’s basically what it was.
Smitty: Mm-hmm.
EM: And it was just a surreal moment, really. It was really just surreal. I mean, I was just sitting there saying “Wow, this is like we’re here. This is unbelievable,” you know? And it was just a great, great experience and then the icing on the cake was just to be able to meet him too.
Smitty: Yeah.
EM: And we got a great photo opportunity and everything, and it was just really, really great. But I would say one word: it was surreal.
Smitty: Yeah, see, I’ve never met him. You guys got it goin’ on, you know? Well, tell me, what did you play?
EM: Well, we played a lot of different things. We played a lot of original music and I think we played some Brubeck and I think we played some standards, so we played things like “These Foolish Things” for some standards and I think we played “Blue Rondo A La Turk,” I think, and “Take Five,” I think, we played. The funny thing was we had a tenor sax all ready to go and set up if he wanted to sit in.
Smitty: Aha! I was wondering.
EM: It didn’t happen, unfortunately, though. That would’ve been great, but it didn’t happen.
Smitty: Yeah, I’ve heard him play. He can burn.
EM: Oh yeah, he can hold his own, absolutely.
Smitty: Yeah, he’s got some chops. (Both laugh.)
EM: No, it was just really a great opportunity and since then, from that point, then we performed at the Kennedy Center.
Smitty: Oh, wow.
EM: And we’ve performed 11 times now at the Kennedy Center in Washington, so all of these great opportunities have been just a real blessing but a lot of hard work. I wanna also say that.
Smitty: But doesn’t that hard work pay off?
EM: Hard work does pay off and dreams do pay off because I’ve been dreaming about doing this music and doing it full-time, and my dream was to be a professional jazz musician from an early, early age so, I mean, I’ve been at this for 15 years and we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel and it’s been a long process, but it’s just been great.
Smitty: Well, I must say, if this project that you’ve just finished has anything to do with success, you’re well on your way, my friend.
EM: Thank you, thank you.
Smitty: Yeah, this is magnificent music.
EM: Thank you.
Smitty: There’s a lotta heart and soul in it, and the guys, your band, they are as Dave Brubeck said, they are some gifted and talented individuals. I second that.
EM: Thank you. Well, and I think so too. And the guys in the band, if you don’t mind, I can tell you who they are.
