Pianist Bill Evans once noted, "Jazz isn't a ‘what,' it's a ‘how.'" And in summing up Eric Mintel's career in music, Evans might have said, "Jazz isn't a ‘where,' it's a ‘why.'" Over the past 10 years, the Bucks County-based Mintel's own turn as a jazz pianist has taken him everywhere from small clubs along the East Coast to hosting instructional clinics at high schools and colleges. He's even performed at the White House for former President Clinton.
But venues aside, when the Eric Mintel Quartet takes the stage, there's a singular goal in mind. "We really thrive on going into different communities and introducing them to jazz," says Mintel. "It's been amazing. People that didn't know much about the music have told us after a performance that they want to start their own jazz collection." Mintel credits both the music and his band's repertoire for the audience appeal. "Jazz to me is such positive music," he adds. "It's a great marriage of art and communication."
The conversation starts with the people on stage. Mintel, who has been gigging as a quartet since 1993, assembled what he feels is the "true" Eric Mintel Quartet six years ago. Featuring bassist Dave Antonow, drummer Dave Mohn and Nelson Hill on the saxophone and flute, Mintel describes the current incarnation as a brotherhood. "We're all on the same page musically, personally and spiritually," he explains. "There's harmony in that, and it leads to great music. It's an engaging quality that spills into the audience."
And breaking down the walls between listener and performer is what Mintel and his band mates do best. "We always call the audience the fifth member of the group," he continues. "Their feedback fuels us through the set. We talk to them at lot and incorporate some humor, too." Lighthearted antics like playfully describing how Hill seemingly levitates when he plays high notes or Mintel pretending his hand is about to fly off the piano when he plays a particularly fast run “breaks the ice and makes for an enjoyable evening.”
But the backbone of their performances is, of course, the music. Mintel cites pianist Dave Brubeck as his primary inspiration, incorporating the jazz icon’s adventurous fusion of jazz with exotic rhythms and melodic ideals in his own work. “We play straight-ahead jazz but add a lot of different elements, like funk or Latin rhythms,” Mintel says. “They’re styles inherent to jazz, but you hear them in hip-hop and rock music, too. That’s what really draws an audience. It goes against what people think jazz sounds like.”
The quartet’s mission to expose more people to jazz is what led Mintel to his most high-profile gig in 1998. “I wrote to the White House to see if they had any positive outreach programs where we could be involved,” he recalls. Expecting to play for soldiers overseas or for the homeless, Mintel was surprised when he got a call back less than two weeks later: “They wanted us to play there for a holiday dinner!”
Since then, the quartet has played 10 engagements at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; has been featured on National Public Radio and the local NBC news; and has been featured in the prestigious jazz publication Downbeat. “That performance opened a lot of doors for us,” Mintel says, humbly.
And with every show, big or small, Mintel is reminded about the possibilities inherent within the music that’s brought him so much happiness over the years: “It’s been amazing how we’ve been able to touch so many people’s lives.”
The Eric Mintel Quartet will be performing at the Michener Museum’s Jazz Night on May 1.
Go online at ericmintelquartet.com