May 11, 2006

Jazz Fest features sax player Mintzer

Grammy Award-nominated jazz arranger and legendary saxophonist Bob Mintzer will bring his signature style, merging tradition and modernism, to Northwestern for the annual Jazz Fest at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20.

Mintzer will be the featured guest artist in performances with North-western’s Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Band and various jazz combos during a program that will be held at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.

Mintzer’s collaborations with jazz greats Buddy Rich, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Art Blakey and Tito Puente and session work for James Taylor, Queen and Aretha Franklin helped to hone his skills as a musician and arranger. With its easy to recognize writing style, his music is played on jazz radio and in universities, high schools and jazz venues in the United States and abroad.

A tenor and soprano saxophonist, he also plays flute and clarinet. Mintzer has been performing, composing and arranging music for more than two decades, and teaches saxophone at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

To order tickets call (847) 467-4000 or go to www.pickstaiger.com.