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 Bob
Mintzer, now in his seventh year with contemporary jazz group the
Yellowjackets, is widely recognized as a master of improvisation.
Concomitant to Mintzer's addition to the group, the band took a
direction away from pop instrumental music and into a more modern
straight-ahead format. With each new album since Mintzer's involvement
the band has become more and more dark, intelligent and complete
in its presentations. The new Yellowjackets album "Blue Hats"
is no exception to this pattern. Mintzer's EWI solos both on the
album and in the live show are dry, strait forward jazz solos which
are presented with the utmost musical acumen.
I caught up to the Yellowjackets
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at a small club called the Red Mill East.
Sitting close enough to the band to feel some intermittent sweat
drops, I marveled at the intense musicianship on stage. Mintzer's
pyrotechnic EWI presentation of "Freda" was at break-neck
tempo. I've posted to the page the original chart for "Freda",
so if you really want a work out, get out your metronome and go
for it. Here's a little sound clip of
"Freda" to give you the idea. After the show we talked
about the EWI and the Yellowjackets:
EWI: How long have you been with the
Yellowjackets?
Bob Mintzer: 6 1/2 years.
EWI: How did it happen?
Bob: They called me...I said...Yeah!
EWI: The Yellowjackets had a wind synth player, Richard Elliot, most
notably on the Mirage a trois album...
Bob: Is that right, I didn't know that!
EWI: Yeah, songs like Claire's Song were Richard playing
Lyricon.
Bob: I thought those were alto!
EWI: Was the EWI a
component for the decision to have you come into the band?
Bob: I bought my EWI
a few years prior to joining the band and just couldn't come up
with an application for it so it sat in my closet. When I started
hanging out with these guys, it was apparent that there were some
tunes that would go very nicely with the EWI.
EWI: The EWI and EVI players out there are aware that you have a solo
record out there called One Music that utilizes the EWI quite a bit. Are you continuing
your efforts in solo projects and will they involve the EWI?
 Bob: The next solo project is a big band record. I'm not sure whether
a future solo record will involve the EWI.
EWI: What led you to start playing EWI?
Bob: Joining this band.
EWI: How influential was Brecker to your EWI playing.
Bob: Well, he's the cat. He's a virtuoso, plus he's hung with all the
programmers and has some incredible sounds. Although, Steve Tavaglione is right up there
with him. He's done some incredible things with the instrument.
EWI: Did you try any other controllers before purchasing an EWI?
Bob: No.
EWI: Have you tried any of the newer model
EWI's?
Bob: No.
EWI: What were you using tonight?
Bob: Just the EWI1000 with the
EWV2000 module, no external synths
this time.
EWI: I know I've seen you on the road with two Oberheim Matrix
1000's...
Bob: Yeah, I was just trying to travel light and the songs we are
doing don't really call for anything else.
EWI: What do you use on the new Yellowjackets CD "Blue
Hats".
Bob: Just the EWV-2000.
EWI: Is there any polyphony going on in that record?
Bob: No.
EWI: Do you do your own programming on the EWV-2000?
Bob: No, I basically have been using Sam Zambito's tape. [User Friendly Music] But I have used Judd Miller's rig on
some of the Yellowjackets projects...fantastic sounds.
EWI: What's in that rig?
Bob: Too vast for me to comprehend...I'm not into the technical side
at all.
EWI: Do you have a relationship with Nyle Steiner?
Bob: Yeah, he's modified my EWI and he repairs it.
EWI: I noticed that you are using a modified mouthpiece which is
transparent instead of black.
Bob: Yeah, he just put that on there.
EWI: Is the bite sensor the same?
Bob: No, it's not as good as my old one. It's not as sensitive.
Actually, the vibrato is different. Maybe I just need to get used to it.
EWI: Any other modifications that Nyle made?
Bob: Yeah, he put in one of his breath transducers which really makes
the legatos a lot easier.
EWI: What's the worst technical problem that you've experienced with
the EWI?
Bob: When it's moist or hot the thing used to start playing itself.
EWI: Do you use the polyphony feature on your EWI?
Bob: I did when I had the Matrix's.
EWI: How about on the records?
Bob: Just one tune.
EWI: Where are the sounds that we are hearing on the Yellowjackets
records coming from?
Bob: On "Blue Hats" they're the EWV-2000 on the other
records they're Judd's rig, there was an Xpander in there and all kinds of other stuff.
EWI: If you could submit some design ideas to Akai, what would you
change?
Bob: I like the way it is actually.
EWI: You're widely recognized as a master of improvisation, do you
feel that the EWI has opened any doors in your improvisation.
Bob: Yeah, you can do rhythmical things with it that you can't do on a
sax. Some of the sounds on the EWI have a real strong attack so you can play very
percussively and therefore rhythmically, very differently than I would on the saxophone. I
can feel all the more part of the rhythm section because of the electronic quality to it.
You can kind of fold yourself right into the group.
EWI: Where do you see your EWI playing going in the future?
Bob: Nowhere. Y'know, as long as I'm in this band I'm going to keep on
playing it, but I can't imagine playing it in an acoustic jazz group or any of the other
bands I play with. It's great to have it as a double but I just don't have the desire to
get into programming it beyond having a couple of good sounds. The bulk of my time is
dedicated to playing the saxophones and writing so I just don't have the time to delve
into the EWI further.
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