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| Photo: Maxim Reider |
On February 2nd 2017, I met with Guy Mintus at
the Dan Eilat Hotel, where he was one of the artists performing at the Eilat
Chamber Music Festival. Born in Israel, the pianist, composer and educator
today resides in New York, where he is active on the jazz-, world music- and
contemporary music scenes. Guy Mintus has performed throughout Europe, North
America and the Middle East. As a composer, he has won awards and commissions
from such organizations as the American Society of Composers Authors and
Publishers, Downbeat Magazine, the American Composers Orchestra and the Imani
Winds Ensemble and has shared the stage with master musicians from Turkey,
Iran, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Spain, India, Cuba and Mali. His recordings include
a debut album with the Offlines Project, a duo Guy leads with Israeli-Turkish
percussionist/oud player Yinon Muallem (The Offlines Project performed at the
Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on International Jazz Day, April 30th
2016); also, a live solo album “The Mediterranean Piano”.
PH: You are a classical musician, a jazz pianist, you
sing, play the melodica, you compose and you teach. How do you define yourself?
Guy Mintus: Thank you for the question. I first of all
define myself as a human being and, only after that, as a musician. As a
musician I am a pianist and composer and I also play some melodica and sing.
You are right – I am active, but I don’t rush into defining myself as a “jazz
musician” or a “classical musician”. What is jazz? What is classical? These are
funny terms. I know they are necessary for marketing or categorizing and
selling things to be “displayed on the shelf”.
PH: What are the main influences in your music-making?
GM: I draw inspiration from different worlds of music,
not only classical, not only jazz; also from different types of world music –
it could be from Turkey, Greece, Spain, Morocco, it could be Arabic music,
Indian music, Israeli music. These are all sources of inspiration for me. In my
own music, when I compose or improvise, these different facets come together to
form something that is organic, that has been built over time. Sometimes I
compose for symphony orchestras. You could say that this is more “classical
music”, but within it you will hear many jazz influences, improvisations on
world music - of Turkish music, Middle Eastern stuff…so I don’t know if it is
classical. I guess it is in the eyes of the beholder. The defining factor of my
music is not necessarily what we call “genre”.
It is the feeling one has when hearing it., being in touch with it. I
believe there is a thread running through all the music I make and that is the
feeling you get from the music. It’s not about the masses. It’s about reaching
and touching people. That is as far as I can define it.
PH: How did you make contact with the different kinds of
oriental music?
GM: First of all, I grew up in Israel. It is a Middle
Eastern country surrounded by Arab countries. Israel has many Jewish people whose
roots are from Arab countries and Arabic people from different backgrounds. So,
it has always been around me. Also, I am half Iraqi, a quarter Moroccan and a
quarter Polish. This culture is in my blood, you could say. But the fact that
you asked about that shows that it is still somewhat exceptional for a
classical- or jazz pianist to really be building into those styles.
PH: But isn’t it a bit unusual?
GM: The reason it is unusual is just because of the
history of how things have happened institutionally. You go to a music academy
of classical music; thankfully, more and more of them now teach jazz but very
few teach other non-European styles. There are more paths of music than those
we are taught.
PH: So how did you study this music?
GM: I was very lucky to meet an incredible teacher –
Harel Shachal. He got me into deep study of oriental music. He taught me the
Turkish maqam (melodic system). That was my gateway. From then on I kept
studying with him, I kept exploring and playing with musicians, I started
travelling to Istanbul, performing and recording there. In New York, I met amazing
Indian musicians playing classical Indian music and I have studied and
performed with some of them. I am open to these things and would not avoid
studying, say, Iranian music or that from Azerbaijan just because they are not
taught at my school. And all these kinds of music are connected to each other.
I enjoy experiencing and spreading that, also bringing these sounds here, to
the Eilat Chamber Music Festival. They are also a part of what chamber music
is.
PH: What was your early musical training?
GM: I started learning small keyboards when I was 10,
playing all sorts of pop songs – Beatles, etc. But thanks to the Thelonious
Monk’s piece “Round Midnight”, I started playing jazz. I only knew the piece
from the printed music, but when I finally heard Monk’s version of it, it
sparked the idea of trying to improvise myself. That was what got me onto the
path of exploring jazz music, getting into the history of it and eventually
going to New York, which is where I have been living for the last four and a
half years. There I have colleagues with whom I have worked for a while. It is
very nice to be a part of this kind of community.
PH: Did you take studies in New York?
GM: Yes. I was at the Manhattan School of Music for three
years. Since my graduation, I have been very fortunate to be doing music
full-time, earning my living performing concerts, whether in New York, around
the USA or Canada, Europe, Israel or Turkey. I have been travelling a lot, of
course, and also receiving some commissions from different ensembles that are
more identified with the classical/chamber music sector; they have commissioned
me to write because they want me to compose in my style, not in the style of
Mozart or in the style of contemporary composers, whatever that is.
PH: You also teach.
GM: Yes. I give workshops all around the world, mostly on
improvisation. I also have a workshop I call “Meeting Points”; this is about
opening people’s minds to different kinds of music.
PH: When you are performing, what are your thoughts? Do
you feel you are in your own world or are you engaging with the audience?
GM: Both, I think. I am open to the audience. I listen to
what energy I get from the audience; that is a kind of guide for me. It is give
and take. You have to have something you want to express. It doesn’t always
need to be something you can define in words. It’s an internal thing. You have
to just feel it. I have to listen to what my purpose here is. You are there to
give something, to pass it on. I try to do that every time I go on stage. The
audience is effective. For example, the first time you heard me it was in Tel
Aviv in front of many journalists. Journalists are naturally very impatient,
but I picked up their energy. That makes me play in a certain way. And many of
them came up to me later to say how much they enjoyed it. Then, in trumpeter
Jens Lindemann’s concert here at the festival, people were surprised when I
came up on stage; some were moved to tears when I played one little solo on the
melodica. So it is different every time, even if you are playing the same
repertoire, and that’s the fun of it.
PH: What are your future plans?
GM: To continue this way for the next years. I am very
happy with what I am doing. I hope to compose more. There is something else I
should talk about - I am in the process of starting my own music label – Mintus
Music. That is because of the need artists have today to establish a “home” for
our own works, especially with genres today not as clear-cut as they used to
be. I am active on different scenes and I need this for my output as a whole to
be put out there. It is mainly for recording my works, but it may mean at some
later stage that I release someone else’s projects, this also relating to me as
it will be my choice. But it is a personal label, my own venture.
PH: What is your latest recording?
GM: It’s called “A Home In-Between” and will come out
this April on my new label. The pieces were performed by my trio – the Guy
Mintus Trio - the other members being Israeli bassist Tamir Shmerling and Dutch
drummer Philippe Lemm, both living in New York. We three have worked together
for a while. So, when we went into the studio, the album just “happened”. It
was magic.
PH: Do you come from a musical family?
GM: Not of professional musicians. Not my immediate
family. Both my parents are very musical but they don’t play instruments. They are
lawyers. I do have some distant relatives who play very well.
PH: When it is not music, what interests you?
GM: Life, food, meeting people, travelling the world,
seeing places, my family.
PH: Guy Mintus, many thanks for your time. And I so
enjoyed your performance.
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