author: Matt Collar
This box set from pianist Eric Mintel collects three of the jazz musician's recordings, including 2002's Hopscotch and 2004's Dynamo and 2005's Four on the Floor. A deft improviser and composer, Mintel brings to mind an organic mix of such influences as Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk. As such, he displays a gift for swinging melodies, odd time signatures and some classical themes. This is urbane, precise, but still passionate modern jazz that is the epitome of intellectual good taste.
Matt Collar
All Music Guide
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author: Karl Stark: Philadelphia Inquirer
3 out of 4 stars:
Pianist and bandleader Eric Mintel plays a sweet digestible brand of jazz. A devotee of pianist Dave Brubeck, Mintel who has gigged at the White House and the Kennedy Center, the Bucks County resident understands what it takes to sustain a working jazz band. His quartet sounds bright and pleasant but not cravenly commercial. The 11 Mintel originals here are more positive than profound, and they often have the feel of a broadway musical with some advanced bop thrown in. Yet it's hard to argue with the upbeat feeling. KS
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