The Eric Mintel Quartet is a favorite of Miller Symphony Hall audiences and jazz aficionados in the Lehigh Valley.

The quartet, known as EMQ, does something that few groups can pull off. EMQ appeals to people who do not normally like jazz. EMQ also has a sound for those looking for something a bit different.

The Eric Mintel Quartet appears at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17, “Jazz OnStage” series, main hall, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown.

It’s the first jazz concert since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown that the hall is not live-streaming.

Mintel has appeared in the hall’s jazz series at least 10 times, beginning in December 2006.

Speaking from his home in Perkasie, Mintel says that many people have told him, “I never really listened to jazz before, but I like your music.”

Mintel reasons that this is because he always keeps a sense of melody in his renditions and compositions:

“You can be complex if you keep it melodic. A bunch of notes don’t mean anything. But for some people, that is what they are exposed to the first time they hear jazz.”

Mintel’s accessible and exploratory music has unusual time signatures and influences from numerous music genres. “There are a lot of surprises,” he says.

Much of Mintel’s approach is inspired by Dave Brubeck. Mintel’s quartet opened for Brubeck at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, in 2005.

“He was a great mentor, not only for musical education but for his work ethic,” Mintel says.

Brubeck honored Mintel by telling him once, “You play my music better than I do.”

Mintel mentions another reason for his appeal. “People can see the joy we have in playing. It connects us with the audience. People feel good after our concerts.

“We never do any rehearsal. You can’t rehearse it. Everything happens right on the spot. We have played so much together we communicate with each other like a sixth sense.”

The quartet includes Mintel, piano; Nelson Hill, saxophone, flute; Jack Hegyi, bass, and Dave Mohn, drums.

Hegyi will mainly or exclusively play electric bass. Mintel says, “We play high-energy music. Sometimes, a standup bass doesn’t cut through.”

The concert will be all or mostly Mintel originals, with the possibility of a few Brubeck compositions.

“I have written a lot of new tunes since COVID. I turned to creativity instead of anxiety for getting through this,” Mintel says.

Mintel was born in New Jersey and grew up in Upper Black Eddy. He graduated from Pennridge High School in 1985. He is basically self-taught.

“When I was 14 in 1982, my piano teacher tried to teach me songs like ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,’ while I was playing ‘Blue Rondo A La Turk,’ ‘Take Five’ and obscure Dave Brubeck tunes. He [the piano teacher] told me, ‘You are going to go your own way. There is nothing more I can teach you.’”

Tickets: www.millersymphonyhall.org, 610-432-6715