Yellowjackets’ Bob Mintzer – HuffPost 4.21.11

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

Bob Mintzer: 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.