Jazz Monthly.com Interview with eric mintel

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Eric Mintel

Smitty: Visiting JazzMonthly.com for the very first time an incredible pianist/keyboard player. He’s part of a great band. It’s called the Eric Mintel Quartet. You’ve got to hear their latest record. It’s called Times Change and it is a magnificent project. Here to talk about this great project and the band representing the Eric Mintel Quartet, please give a very warm welcome for Mr. Eric Mintel. Eric, how are you, my friend?

Eric Mintel (EM): I’m doing good, Smitty, my friend. How you doin’?

Smitty: I’m wonderful. Well, man, it’s certainly a pleasure to talk with you after listening to this great record.

EM: Well, I am so glad that we are connected here because I found you and I just really love what you’re doing with jazz and the way you’re presenting jazz musicians that I said I have got to call this guy. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Well, thank you. I’m glad you did because, man, what a great project. I would not have heard this music possibly and I am totally diggin’ it because when I listened to the record, one of the things that I thought about was this is sort of a funked up swing band. I said, man, this has got some groove to it, you know? And you’ve got some great players, man. My hat’s off to your band.

EM: Well, thank you. The thing is we’ve been playing so long together and I think what you’re hearing is we’re just such a tight ensemble and a lot of the tunes on the album actually were really done in only one or two takes just because we captured a lot of that raw energy in the studio and that was really, really important and the fact that we’ve been playing together, it’s kind of like we’re on that telepathic level. (Laughs.)

Smitty: Isn’t that a beautiful thing, though?

EM: Oh, it’s great. Things will happen spontaneously and it’s like we all have to look at each other and like, wow, where did that come from?

Smitty: Yes, when we can amaze ourselves it’s a beautiful thing because there’s just not a feeling like that.

EM: Well, especially in jazz, in this music, just because of the improvisation. It’s just so personal in nature and you’re hearing that personal part of each performer and then when you’re in the quartet setting, it’s just inspiring.

Smitty: Yeah, well, you’ve been going at this for a little while.

EM: Yeah.

Smitty: Because, man, your first band, you were what, 15?

EM: I think so, you know? Yeah, well, I started the group in 1993 and I’d been playing piano….my parents could always find me at the piano since three years old, but seriously I think my first job was when I was about 15 or 16. My very first job was I think I played solo piano in a lingerie shop.

Smitty: (Laughs.)

EM: I was playing for these runway fashion shows. Actually, I didn’t mind that at all. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: I can imagine.

EM: So it was great.

Smitty: What a gig!

EM: Yeah, man, it was great. (Laughs.) So that was my first paid professional job. And then I remember a couple of years later, and I don’t wanna get too far ahead of myself here, but then I started my band a few years after that.

Smitty: Yeah. Man, you were kickin’ it with some pretty good music. I think when you around 15, 16, you were already playing tunes like “Take Five” and doing some orchestral stuff. Talk a little bit about how you got into that.

EM: Well, as I said, I was very fortunate that music was always part of the household and my parents would always play classical music. Mostly classical music was played—Chopin, Bach, Beethoven—and I think that was permeated throughout the house all the time in my childhood, and when I was about 14—and I’m an only child—so I found an old record collection of my mother and father’s, and I was going through it and listening to a lot of different music and I was listening to a lot of rhythm and blues, some Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, and then all of a sudden in the record collection I saw this one record and I put the record on and the guy on the cover of this 45—you know, when they had 45s, just all records—he had glasses, slicked back hair, brown suit, and so I put the record on and all of a sudden I just had an instant connection with the music that was being played and I said this is what I wanna play, this is what I wanna play the rest of my life, and I had that epiphany right then and there, and it turned out that it was Dave Brubeck and on one side of the record was “Take Five” and the other side of the record was “Blue Rondo A La Turk.”

And, I mean, I was into the music so much that I recorded the record on a tape and then sat like a little tape player down next to me on the piano to try to transcribe it from the tape to the piano. And I took piano lessons for about a year and I was coming to the piano lessons playing “Blue Rondo,” “Take Five,” all these obscure time signatures and my piano teacher was trying to teach me “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” you know? And it was just sort of like I was a product of reverse engineering, so he wound up saying “Look, I don’t think I could teach you any further. I think you’re gonna have to go your own way.” That’s pretty much what I’ve done ever since.

Smitty: Well, Dave Brubeck has had that influence on a lot of people.

EM: Yeah.

Smitty: When I first heard “Take Five,” oh, what a tune. I mean, it still grabs you the same way even now.

EM: Well, yeah, and “Take Five,” that was written by Paul Desmond too and the main thing with Brubeck’s music has been, for me, that it’s been—and I think for a lot of other people—that it’s accessible.

Smitty: Yes.

EM: It was accessible music that you could identify with and you can follow. It wasn’t too out there, but yet it was out there intellectually with all the time signatures or rhythmic changes.

Smitty: Yeah.

EM: But it was really accessible and it bordered on that classical European approach in jazz and then, of course, that’s what appealed to me as well, so that’s just great. And just now, all these years later, that Brubeck and I have formed a great friendship and I actually just talked to him a couple of weeks ago. So it’s just really great to have a guy like that that’s in your corner that really, really enjoys my quartet and sort of like sees that we’re going to the next level with this music, with jazz, and bringing it to more of a wider audience.

Smitty: Well, speaking of your friendship with Dave Brubeck, he had some pretty nice things to say about your latest record.

EM: Yeah.

Smitty: He said “When I first listened to the CD, I was struck by how swinging they are.”

EM: Yeah.

Smitty: So you guys are swingers, man. (Both laugh.)

EM: Well, again, it’s the way we’re presenting the music. We care about this music so much that it’s very important to me that my audience can identify with the music. And so we try to approach it in different ways and I always try to keep it fresh but at the same time, like I said, it’s just a real tight ensemble and just musically everybody has really big ears in this group and listens, it’s incredible.

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.

Smitty: Please.

EM: I have Dave Antonow, who’s on bass, and he’s on upright and electric bass, and then I have Dave Mohn on drums, and then I have Nelson Hill, who is on alto sax and flute and soprano sax, and of course he plays all the reeds, but all of these guys are incredible, incredible people. That’s number one. Besides great musicians, these are great people.

Smitty: I like that, man.

EM: And we’re friends besides being band mates and it’s just great that it’s nice to have that kind of relationship too, and I’m lucky and I’m so blessed to have these guys in the group.

Smitty: Well, I will tell you, these guys did some—and I hope everybody gets this record because there’s some killer solos on here.

EM: (Laughs.)

Smitty: Wow! I could not get over the killer solos. I mean, man, Nelson, but he can smoke on the water with that flute, you know?

EM: (Laughs.) That’s right.

Smitty: Whoo!

EM: That’s right. Well, Nelson was with Maynard Ferguson for a few years in the early eighties. And then all the rest of the guys, you know, Dave Antonow has played on and off with different bands over the years and Dave Mohn, and the thing is, this group is like sort of a new—it’s not a new group—we’ve been playing on and off for the last 10 years, but solidly as a group this has been solid now for about two years. And it just keeps getting better and better, and I’ve written a lot of new tunes and we’re already working on the next album, which is gonna be a tribute to Dave Brubeck.

Smitty: Oh, super.

EM: Yeah, so we’ve already got tunes all ready to go for that and I’ve written a bunch of new tunes for the guys in the quartet, and as a piano player, I’ll tell ya, it allows me to be very, very creative and to explore where normally I wouldn’t be able to, because I know I’ve got that cushion under there.

Smitty: Yeah.

EM: That I can explore there and I know it’s kinda like, like I said before, everybody’s listening, and it’s a great environment to create because I can go out there and I can come back home too. (Laughs.)

Smitty: Exactly and that’s a beautiful thing to know that you know where you’re going and know where you need to get to.

EM: Right.

Smitty: And I think it’s beautiful. I wanna talk a little bit more about the band because the bass player, Dave Antonow, he gives me that rock band appearance but, man, he has some improvisational skills.

EM: Yes he does. Michael Moore is Dave Brubeck’s bass player and Dave Antonow has one of Mike’s old basses. So he’s been playing that and I’ll tell ya, he’s also a guitar player, he’s always played guitar, so guitar and bass sometimes go hand in hand, and so he’s, again, a great improviser, a great listener.

Smitty: Yeah, and your drummer, Dave Mohn, I was so impressed with his musicianship on this record. I mean, he can lead, follow, run, walk.

EM: Oh, man. Now you know how I feel. (Both laugh.) I mean, yeah, it’s just a pleasure having Dave in the group. I mean, he is just such a tasty drummer and just has so many different ideas that he and I will both look at each other and be like, you know, we’ll hit on the same rhythmic idea and we’ll be like “Wow, this is unbelievable,” like we’re reading each other’s mind, and he’s just such a tasty drummer, his technique is flawless.

Smitty: Would it be safe to say that you all equally inspire each other?

EM: I think that’s a great way of saying it, yeah. That’s it in a nutshell, yeah, I think that’s it.

Smitty: And you can’t put a price on that. That’s just priceless.

EM: Yeah. Well, we make each other better or we wanna make each other better and better because there is just so much to say in this music that you can play this music for a lifetime and still not say enough. And that’s the thing with the improvisations. Each time we approach a tune, it’s gonna be different. Every time we play jazz, any standard, anything like that, it should be different, it should be approached differently, and that’s the great thing about jazz with the improvisation, so we try to do that every so often and we do a really, really neat version of “Take the A Train” and that’s always different every time we do that, and even when we play “Take Five” or something like that, it’s like we’re not playing these things traditionally like they’ve been on the record. It’s nice to add that freshness to it. It also raises some eyebrows. “Whoa, what’s this? Well, they were taking me here, but now we’re going there.” (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Well, I’ve got several favorite tunes. I couldn’t just go with one on this new record.

EM: Okay.

Smitty: The record is called Times Change, but Track 10, “Alone in the Night,” is one of my favorites.

EM: Oh, well, thank you.

Smitty: Yeah, and Track 3, “Why Not?”

EM: Yup.

Smitty: I love that tune. And there was one more. Oh, “Philadelphia Rush Hour.” Man, that song you could’ve continued with that one another eight minutes if you wanted to.

EM: Yeah, I know. Well, we were in the rush hour at that point. (Both laugh.) We were trying to get out of the rush hour. I always tell people “You don’t wanna know the lyrics to that tune.” (Both laugh.) Yeah, thank you very much. Well, the two that you mentioned, “Philadelphia Rush Hour” and “Alone in the Night,” are tunes that I wrote. And “Why Not?” is by Dave Brubeck. But “Alone in the Night” is a real reflective piece and the flute I wanted to use sort of like the lone voice in the night.

Smitty: Yeah.

EM: And I just like slow ballads and it’s very, very much a retrospective piece and I’m thinking about writing lyrics to it as well.

Smitty: Oh, very cool.

EM: And then “Philadelphia Rush Hour” basically was written in my head while I was in rush hour. (Both laugh.) And that was a great collaboration between the guys in the quartet. Dave Antonow helped out. We came up with that one line toward the end just before you hear the pileup. (Both laugh.) And so it’s a lot of great collaborations and a lot of fun making that album.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Well, you guys are really getting an opportunity to get out and play some of this music because I looked at your tour schedule on your Web site and you have quite a schedule.

EM: Yes we do. I’m very blessed to be working as much as we are too, but again, I wanna reiterate it’s, again, hard work and I’m on the phone 24/7 practically, booking the group. But on the other hand, I’m also getting calls 24/7, which is a good thing.

Smitty: Somehow I know what that’s like. (Laughs.)

EM: Yeah, you know, you know, I hope, I’m telling you. (Both laugh.) But it’s a good thing and people wanna hear good music, and the thing is, we’ve been really connecting with a lotta people across the country and getting a lot of airplay on a lotta different radio stations. We’re getting a lot of airplay on XM Satellite Radio, which has been really great.

Smitty: They’re great guys at XM.

EM: And I’ve been getting e-mails from people all over the country that are connecting with the music. I mean, I’ll share a quick story with you about one of the e-mails.

Smitty: Please.

EM: A father and son were driving along in St. Louis.

Smitty: Oh, my hometown.

EM: In your hometown? All right! Well, they’re driving along in St. Louis and they’re listening to XM Radio and all of a sudden they heard one of my tunes, “Four on the Floor,” which came on the radio, and they pulled over to the side of the road. They wanted to find out who it was, what it was, who wrote it, so they contacted XM, got my name, and wound up Googling my name and got in touch with me and told me that they found me on XM, and I said “Oh, this is great. Let me send you a CD.” So I sent a CD along and so after that, the father sent me another e-mail saying that his son has now started a jazz band, he has memorized all of my tunes.

Smitty: Wow!

EM: And now they listen to jazz all the time.

Smitty: Isn’t that amazing?

EM: So that is a really great, great story and I just feel, again, that’s, for me, what this music is all about too. Because I am trying to perpetuate this to the younger generation and to more of a general public. And I think with things like that and I think, again, the way we’re presenting this music, I think it’s happening and I think people can identify with what we’re doing. I mean, that’s just so flattering and it’s just so great to know that we inspired this guy so much that he started his own jazz band.

Smitty: Yes it is, that certainly puts a stamp on how beautiful the record is and your musicianship, man. I mean, it is what it is. It’s great music and it’s the kind of music that moves people and inspires people, and like you said, that’s what it’s all about.

EM: Yeah, thank you. And I think that’s how we connected, you know? Because you have the same sort of passion with what you’re doing with jazz and the musicians like I do with the music.

Smitty: Well, thank you, man. I appreciate that. Like you said, it’s hard work. (Both laugh.)

EM: We know hard work.

Smitty: Yes, we know hard work, but it’s a rewarding kind of work too.

EM: Yeah, well, and for me I’ve got a wife and five-year-old daughter who just turned five years old, and she’s already starting to learn piano and she’s starting to play guitar now.

Smitty: Oh, wow.

EM: She’s very musical and my wife is a dance teacher and choreographer, so she’s got the best of both worlds.

Smitty: Yes she does, wow. So we should be hearing something from her pretty soon.

EM: Yeah, probably. We’ll be doing, probably later on in life, doing a duo album together. She’ll be singing and I’ll be playing. (Both laugh.) I’ll be playing the piano.

Smitty: Oh, man, that is too cool. You mentioned your Web site. Give me your Web site.

EM: Sure, it’s www.ericmintelquartet.com.

Smitty: Okay, and what can people find there? I mean, if they go to your site can they get the record there?

EM: They could find our CD there. The CD’s available on the Web site and then you can also find our schedule. We also have other CD’s available as well. Soon there’s gonna be some video clips up on the site from a recent TV show that we just did.

Smitty: Oh, very cool.

EM: We did a television program up in Scranton, Pennsylvania called Home Grown Music and I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I’m from here in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.

Smitty: Right.

EM: But we did this TV show on April 9th and it was just great, and so we’re gonna be putting up some clips of that pretty soon and then I guess it’s gonna be aired on their television program sometime in late summer/early fall.

Smitty: Nice.

EM: But you can also read our newsletter. I have a newsletter and some press reviews and things like that that are on the Web site as well. I put out a newsletter once every three or four months just to kind of update people on the further adventures of the Eric Mintel Quartet. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Yeah, I’ve been to your site. It’s a great informative site, it’s colorful, and lots of news about what’s happening with you cats.

EM: I’m hoping that we can make it out your way pretty soon because I’m working on several different tours now. I’m working on a tour of California. We’re doing an East Coast tour up and down the Eastern Seaboard in November and December.

Smitty: Nice.

EM: And then we’re working on going out to Colorado I think next summer.

Smitty: Oh, man, you’ll love it out there.

EM: Oh, it’s been great. We went out in 2005, but I’m also trying to work on getting us over to Europe as well. So lots of different things going on, but again, I’m doing it all myself, but if anyone’s listening, I could use the help! (Both laugh.) Any booking agents out there.

Smitty: Yeah, you may get a few now.

EM: And the thing is, the group is just so much in demand that we’re currently shopping this new record around to different record labels as well.

Smitty: Oh, great. Well, much success on that.

EM: Thank you very much. Right now it’s on my own independent label, so there’s a lotta different things happening and I’m just so glad that we’re able to share it with your listeners and readers.

Smitty: Yes, man, and I want to congratulate you on this great record, your entire band, and all the wonderful things that you have enjoyed and been a part of as a band and as friends. It’s a beautiful thing.

EM: Thank you. I want to certainly not forget to mention that Marian McPartland…. She wrote to me and asked me to record one of her songs on our next album, so we did on this album and it’s called “Ambience.”

Smitty: Yes.

EM: And I was so fortunate again. I was a featured guest on her piano jazz program last year and, again, still getting positive feedback from my appearance on her show and just, once again, connecting with people through the music.

Smitty: Yes.

EM: And so, again, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland having these…

Smitty: Bill Clinton. (Both laugh.)

EM: Yeah, Bill Clinton, all these great jazz icons on our side, it’s just been really great and, again, my whole thing with jazz is really to take this music and give it back to the general public and get it out there more. I think we’d have a lot less problems in the world if more people would listen to jazz and really go see jazz musicians perform because back in the day, the jazz musician was who you went to listen to to hear the sign of the times, if that makes any sense.

Smitty: Yes indeed.

EM: Because the jazz musicians are pouring out their soul through the improvisation. And that’s something that isn’t really talked about too much in the music, and the jazz musician is very, very important to the world, and I just hope that people will continue to support jazz and jazz musicians.

Smitty: I totally agree, my friend, and you’ve got the right product to reach people and I can’t congratulate you enough on this great record.

EM: Well, thank you very much.

Smitty: All right. The record is Times Change by the Eric Mintel Quartet. This is a terrific piece and I highly recommend this record for all listeners of music, not just jazz. Eric, thank you so much for sharing those great stories about your career and this great record as well, and all the best in 2007, my friend.

EM: Thank you very much, Smitty, and the same to you too.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.ericmintelquartet.com and www.myspace.com/theericmintelquartet