Guy Mintus Trio
media release: “[Guy Mintus] is amongst the most exciting jazz talents on the scene. I highly recommend him to any presenter whether at a club, a PAC or with an orchestra. ”
– Mervon Mehta, Executive and Artistic Director Koerner Hall The Royal Conservatory of Music
Israeli pianist, composer, vocalist and educator Guy Mintus is equally at home whether he’s sharing the stage with jazz legends, composes for classical orchestras, is collaborating with masters of traditional music, working with kids or guesting as a soloist with Ska-Punk band Streetlight Manifesto with whom he performed at a sold-out Beacon Theater. Coming from a mixed heritage of Iraqi, Moroccan & Polish Jews, his music is a meeting point between different rivers of inspiration flowing freely into each other. A trained concert pianist with the energy of a rock-star and a jazz musician’s sense of adventure who’s unafraid to throw into the mix his native middle-eastern scales and rhythms.
Guy’s awards include the “Leonard Bernstein Award” by ASCAP and the Bernstein Family Foundation and the Prix du Public at the Montreux Jazz Festival’s solo piano competition. His debut record, “A Home in Between” has been selected as DownBeat Magazine’s Editor’s Pick while his sophomore release, “Connecting the Dots”, has been celebrated in concerts throughout the US, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Turkey and Kazakhstan including a New York CD release concert that has been recommended by the New York Times.
Guy’s recent record, A Gershwin Playground, was released on the prestigious label ENJA Records (Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner among others). The album provides a fresh, modern and very personal take on the music of Jewish-American musical giant while receiving international support from both critics and audiences alike.
Guy has been commissioned to compose works by the American Composers Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem East & West Orchestra. He has performed Rhapsody in Blue with the Bavarian Philharmonic, composed music for Miracle of Miracles, the new documentary about Fiddler on the Roof, by HBO director Max Lewkowicz and premiered his first piano concerto with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Guy is an endorsed artist by Yamaha Pianos.
“Mintus pours together a mixed brew of influences - Arabic makam, Jewish folk song, Eastern European dance rhythms and, especially, classic hard bop - with ebullient grace that you'd think they all originated in the very same place" The New York Times
“Mintus’ shining, charismatic personality is addictive, and his fine trio liberates listeners with its majestic take on freedom conjured through thoughtful connections.” DownBeat Magazine
“Guy Mintus doesn’t just cross the line, he obliterated it. His bold reimaginings of each track, animated by his brilliant sidekicks, take listeners on a rocket ride to heights where they can see these tunes as if for the first time. Repeated play reveal profound adaptability to Gershwin’s writing.” DownBeat Magazine