A Conversation with Yellowjackets’ Bob Mintzer – HuffPost 4.21.11

Mike Ragogna: Bob, is it “Yellowjackets” or “The Yellowjackets”?

Bob Mintzer: Oh, I don’t know. (laughs) Somehow, we arrived at Yellowjackets-maybe just to conserve energy. Frequently people ask what the significance is in the name “Yellowjackets” and honestly, there isn’t much. The band kind of morphed out of a Robben Ford band in the late ’70s and needed a name, and the word “Yellowjackets” passed by. Our producer at the time. Tommy LiPuma, liked the sound of it and felt that it signified something with energy and forward motion. That’s how Yellowjackets or The Yellowjackets came about. We don’t really care too much about whether it’s THE Yellowjackets or not. We’re working on the music. We’re less worried about what people call the band.

MR: Let’s talk about your new album, Timeline. Do you know what number album this is for you guys?

BM: It’s number 21.

MR: How do you feel that this album is different from the last few that you’ve made?

BM: Well, I feel like the number “21” is significant because it’s like we are now of age. We’ve all been playing music for quite a while now–both individually and now collectively. I think the band is mature–we’ve come up with a sound that’s recognizable. A lot of that is contingent on the way that the four of us react in the moment. The songs are evolved compositionally and creatively, they’re pretty broad in scope and style. It’s kind of hard to put the Yellowjackets into one genre because we’ve kind of created our own genre in a way, which is good and bad. We all come from different backgrounds. I’ve spent a good deal of time in the traditional Jazz vein and I’ve been a big band leader for decades. I’ve also played with Jaco Pastorius and people like that. The bassist, Jimmy Haslip, comes from more of a rock ‘n’ roll background, though he’s a fantastic straight ahead jazz bassist as well. Everybody brings something different to the table, which makes the music eclectic and well thought out and well put together.

MR: It is a mix, but what do you think would be the proper word for the genre of music that the Yellowjackets fall into?

BM: I never know the right word. I don’t even try for the right word anymore. (laughs) Somehow the word “fusion” keeps coming back around, but to me, that was something that is reminiscent of the ’70s when jazz music moved up to a bigger venue and started using more electrical instruments, and rock ‘n’ roll devices. But we’re just trying to play. As composers, we try to come up with music that serves us a comfortable and interesting vehicle for our playing.

MR: What’s the creative process like?

BM: Well, first, we talk about the possible direction, focal point, or theme to what we’re trying to write. Sometimes, there might even be some social action involved. We did an album in 1990 called Greenhouse where we were thinking about the environment. But once we’ve established a direction we go off and write individually and get together and read through some of the new compositions and narrow down the prospective compositions to about 12 songs. Sometimes, 2 or more of us will get together and have a recorded jam session to see if some germ or idea comes from that. Maybe then one person takes that and expands upon that and crafts that into a seasoned composition. But at the end of the day, after all the material has been written both individually and collectively we get together and play it. At that point, the music goes into the band mixing pot and you may have to forfeit your tune. You may have conceived a tune that goes a certain way with a certain beat and melody, but everybody then gives their input on the tune and it becomes Yellowjackets property, which is great, in a way, because you never quite know where one of your songs is going to wind up. Four heads are definitely better than one.

MR: What’s the process like in the recording studio?

BM: Well, we try to determine pretty specifically how these songs go so that when we get into the recording studio, we know how everything goes, and it’s just a question of laying down the track. We do the records pretty quick–usually only takes a couple of days to record. Maybe a day or two of tracking, then we might want to overdub little spices here or there of different instruments. But really, it’s about 95% live on the recordings–it’s mostly us playing in real time.

MR: You almost never hear that these days. It seems acts spend so much time overdubbing, chopping, cutting and pasting, removing any initial inspiration there might have been in the original group recording.

BM: Well, it’s interesting to have the ability to do that, and if there’s ever a need for us to go back and fix a stutter or stumble, we’ll do that, but not a lot. I think there’s a certain excitement and energy and spark in four people interacting in the moment, and we try to capture that as best we can.

MR: How often do you guys tour and what songs do you usually play? With as big a catalog as you’ve got,this must get tricky, right?

BM: Well, it’s the 30 year anniversary for Yellowjackets and there’s quite a lot of music as you can imagine having done 21 CDs. We try to play different songs all the time. We like to keep things interesting and challenging. One of us might even send out an email saying “How about revisiting these few tunes?” in which case, we all do our individual homework so that when we get to soundcheck, we can play through some of the things that we haven’t played in a while. It’s really interesting and fun being in this band because it’s never the same–we’re always playing different music. For that matter, if we play the same song every night during any given tour, the song is always very different. There’s a lot of room for improvisation and playing differently each time.

MR: Of course, your being a jazz band, improvisation is mandatory.

BM: The joy of playing this kind of music is letting your mind get out of the way. And when you have a band of empathetic people who have played together a lot, it’s easy to just get swept up in this thing where it doesn’t really feel like you’re playing–you’re just a channel for the music. That’s an amazing feeling.

MR: Though you have contemporaries, it seems that Yellowjackets have much more of a traditional jazz sound running through the recordings, whereas another terrific band like Incognito, to me at least, tends to lean more towards that “fusion” sound of the ’70s we talked about.

BM: I actually have a funny story about Incognito and that subject. We once did a concert at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., and there were a bunch of bands there and Yellowjackets were slated to play after Incognito, which, as you know, is a HUGE band that makes a BIG sound. So, they went on before us and filled this stage and this large theater with sound, it was great. Then the four of us came out–a much smaller band huddled in the middle of a huge stage playing much softer music, comparatively speaking. It was such a different vibe from what the audience had just heard. Incognito was just thrashing and playing really loud and strong. We were much more subtle and delicate. I felt like a mosquito compared to them, it was the strangest thing.

MR: Speaking of live, are you guys going on tour to promote the album yet?

BM: We are, the touring is ongoing. We did a benefit in L.A. for Japanese Tsunami relief, we’re playing in St. Louis at The Bistro, we’re going to the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival, we’re also playing a bunch of concerts with Bobby McFerrin. That’ll be at The Hollywood Bowl in mid-July, then Europe.

MR: You guys are quite the international group.

BM: We are, we all play all over the world. It’s a fantastic and interesting scenario getting to travel to different places and see what other people are doing. It’s very enlightening and interesting.

MR: So, is it that time when we should talk about the Yellowjackets’ history?

BM: Well, I’m actually not one of the original members. I joined the band in 1990 and I believe the first LP came out in 1981 called Yellowjackets. How it all happened was Robben Ford had a band which consisted of Russell Ferrante on piano, Jimmy Haslip on bass and Ricky Lawson on drums. It was a blues band and Robben played guitar and sang; he’s a fantastic musician. Then they had an opportunity to do a demo to explore some sort of instrumental/jazz recording, and they were signed as a separate entity to Warner Brothers records. The band needed a name so Yellowjackets was born. The first album was just Robben with Russell, Jimmy, Ricky and maybe a couple of guests, then I think Robben kind of veered off and did his own thing and Yellowjackets continued on. The next addition, I believe, was Marc Russo on alto saxophone. Then Ricky Lawson left the band to play with Michael Jackson and Will Kennedy joined the band as the new drummer. In 1990, Mark Russo left the band and I joined and we all stayed together until 1999 at which point Will Kennedy left and Peter Erskine came and played for a year. Then he left and Marcus Baylor came and played with us for 10 years–from 2000 to 2010. Then in 2010. Will Kennedy rejoined the band. So, when you think about it, in 30 years, there have only been three big personnel changes. Well, four involving three people, which is pretty extraordinary.

MR: Being such an experienced performer and musician, what advice would you give to aspiring artists right now?

BM: Well, first and foremost, for any artist is to work on your art and make it strong and honest. Study whatever vocabulary you are using to the point where you really have the wherewithal to express yourself in a very broad and concise way–broad in terms of knowing a lot about what it is that you do, and concise in terms of being able to articulate what it is you want to express clearly. I have found that if what you have to say is strong, people will listen and notice you. The second piece of the puzzle is to know the business, know how’ to get your music out there and what that entails. Somewhere in between those things is finding a group of people that you like to play with. That’s important because the great bands in jazz history were really developed bands and had a great band sound. I think specifically of Thelonius Monk with Charlie Rouse and Ben Riley, John Coltrane with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison. Miles Davis had several bands, but two of his luminary bands were the ones with Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams and Ron Carter and George Coleman, then later, with Wayne Shorter and Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland and Keith Jarrett. You know, learn your trade, find people to play with and see how it works in terms of getting your music out there. We’ve all been at this a long time, it doesn’t happen overnight for most of us. But the joyous thing is it’s something you do for your whole life. It’s a wonderful thing to wake up to every day and it’s a nice way to affect people and perhaps influence them in some thought provoking way. It’s a pretty amazing thing. I’m grateful to be a part of it.

MR: Beautiful. Well, I really want to thank you for joining us today and a very Happy Anniversary 30th Anniversary to you and the band.

BM: Thank you.

Transcribed by Evan Tyrone Martin