Soundscapes Bob Mintzer & WDR Big Band Cologne

• 1 A Reprieve 05:53
• 2 The Conversation 05:50
• 3 Stay Up 06:13
• 4 Montuno 05:04
• 5 Whack 07:18
• 6 Canyon Winds 07:11
• 7 Herky Jerky 06:43
• 8 New Look 09:29
• 9 One Music 07:51
• 10 VM 06:33
• Total Runtime 01:08:05

Info for Soundscapes

Bob Mintzer hat einfach den Dreh heraus. Ob nun infolge seiner Zusammenarbeiten mit dem Thad Jones-mel Lewis Orchester, der Buddy Rich Big Band oder der Word Of Mouth Big Band Von Jaco Pastorius, ist unklar. Sicher ist aber, dass er seinen Instinkt für Orchestration und Kontrapunkt während der Jahre immer weiter perfektioniert hat.

Mit „Soundscapes“ meldet sich der Maestro als Leiter der WDR Big Band nun mit zehn neu arrangierten Stücken zurück. Der Tradition der WDR-Chefdirigenten folgend, hat Mintzer sein Werk mit der Bigband aus neu geschriebenen und extra hierfür ausgesuchten Kompositionen geschaffen.

„Soundscapes“, ein Amalgam von Stimmungen, Grooves und komplexen Strukturen, zeigt nicht nur Mintzers Arbeiten für dieses allgemein anerkannte Ensemble, er leistet sogar doppelte Arbeit, als Hauptsolist am Tenorsaxophon und dem Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI), während er andere herausragende Solisten ins Scheinwerferlicht stellt - etwa die langjährigen WDR-Mitglieder Paul Heller (Tenorsaxophon), Karolina Strassmayer und Johan Hörlén (Altsaxophon), Ruud Breuls und Andy Haderer (Trompete) und Andy Hunter (Posaune).

Das im Dezember 2019 aufgenommene Album gehört sicherlich zu den allerbesten in Mintzers langer Karriere.

Bob Mintzer, Tenorsaxophon
WDR Big Band Cologne

Bob Mintzer
is an internationally celebrated jazz musician and longtime faculty member in the Jazz Studies program at USC Thornton. The saxophonist, conductor, and composer/arranger is a longstanding member of the GRAMMY Award-winning Yellowjackets, the fusion supergroup that released its first album in 1981. He leads big bands across the globe, performs with his own quartet, and plays with numerous artists.

In addition of an active performance schedule, Mintzer writes for orchestra, concert band and big band with over five hundred charts to his credit. His big band music is performed by groups all over the world. He has also written works for the National Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands, HR Big Band in Frankfurt, and was commissioned to write a piece for concert band and tenor sax, Go, by a consortium of 50 universities.

Mintzer recently became the chief conductor of the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany. He honed his big band writing and playing skills in the bands of Tito Puente, Buddy Rich and Thad Jones-Mel Lewis.

As an instrumentalist, he has worked with Art Blakey, Jaco Pastorius, Sam Jones, Randy Brecker, Gil Evans, GRP All Star Big Band, Mike Manieri, and 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.

A respected educator, Mintzer is the recipient of the Bowen H. “Buzz” and Barbara M. McCoy Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies at USC Thornton. A professor of Jazz Studies, he is the conductor of the USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra.

Based in Los Angeles, he continues to conduct clinics and workshops worldwide. He has also written nearly twenty books which are an important part of the curriculum of jazz education everywhere.

This album contains no booklet.