Bob Mintzer

Biography

Bob Mintzer is a saxophonist/composer/arranger based in Los Angeles. He is a 35-year member of the Grammy award winning Yellowjackets, the Chief Conductor of the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany since 2015, leads his own Grammy winning big band, is a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, does workshops all over the world, writes books on jazz, writes for orchestra, concert band, and big band, travels with his own quartet, and plays with numerous other bands around the globe.

Bob has written over 500 big band arrangements. His big band music is played over the world, and has influenced numerous big band writers. He honed his big band writing and playing skills in the bands of Tito Puente, Buddy Rich, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis. He has also written works for the National Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands, HR Big Band in Frankfurt, Danish Radio Big Band, and was commissioned to write a piece for concert band and tenor sax (Go) by a consortium of 50 universities.

As an instrumentalist Bob has worked with Art Blakey, Jaco Pastorius, Sam Jones, Randy Brecker, Gil Evans, the Yellowjackets, GRP All Star Big Band, Mike Manieri, The New York Philharmonic, to name a few. He has done session work for James Taylor, Steve Winwood, Queen, Donald Fagan, Milton Nascimento, and countless others. He has recorded some 30 solo projects and was awarded with 17 Grammy nominations and a Grammy win for best large jazz ensemble recording in 2001 for Homage to Count Basie on the DMP label. Following Bob’s 23 year, 12 album relationship with Digital Music Products, Bob went on to record 7 more big band projects on the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Label. He has also done several recordings with the WDR Big Band.

Bob currently resides in Los Angeles in a former home of composer Arnold Schoenberg (his first LA residence, 1934-1936), He is generally considered one of the tenor saxophonists who came out the school of New York players in the 70’s, which includes Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, David Liebman and Steve Grossman.

SPECIALTIES:

Jazz improvisation
Doubling
Composition
Arranging
R & B
Classical music of various styles

LANGUAGES:

English