Gary Bartz

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Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz at the 2007 North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam
Gary Bartz at the 2007 North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam
Background information
Born (1940-09-26) September 26, 1940 (age 83)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
GenresJazz, jazz fusion, funk
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Saxophone
Years active1960s–present
LabelsMilestone, Prestige, P-Vine, SteepleChase, Candid, Atlantic, Blue Note, Mapleshade
Websitewww.garybartz.com

Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940, in Baltimore) is an American jazz saxophonist.[1] He has won two Grammy Awards.[2]

Biography[edit]

Gary Bartz at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, California, July 7, 2017

Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the Juilliard School.[1] In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop. He worked as a sideman with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln before joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.[1] In 1968, he was a member of McCoy Tyner's band, Expansions.[1]

In mid-1970, he joined Miles Davis' band,[1] performing live at the Isle Of Wight festival in August; and at a series of December dates at The Cellar Door club in Washington, D.C. Portions of these shows were initially released on the 1971 Live-Evil album,[1] with the entire six performance/four night run eventually released in full on the 2005 Cellar Door Sessions box set.[3] He later formed the band Ntu Troop, which combined jazz, funk, and soul.[4]

Bartz was awarded a Grammy for "Best Latin Jazz Performance" for his work on Roy Hargrove's "Habana" at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, and for "Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group" for For McCoy Tyner's Illuminations at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.[2]

Bartz was awarded the BNY Mellon Jazz 2015 Living Legacy Award, which was presented at a special ceremony at The Kennedy Center.[5]

In 2019, Revive Music and Bartz celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his Another Earth album at Winter Jazzfest in New York City, alongside original member Pharoah Sanders.[6] Later that year, in collaboration with Moon31,[7]

He is Professor of Jazz Saxophone at Oberlin College.[8]

Discography[edit]

As leader[edit]

Year Album Label Personnel
1967 Libra Milestone Jimmy Owens, Albert Daily, Richard Davis, Billy Higgins
1968 Another Earth Milestone Charles Tolliver, Pharoah Sanders, Stanley Cowell, Reggie Workman, Freddie Waits
1969 Home! Milestone Woody Shaw, Albert Dailey, Bob Cunningham, Rashied Ali
1970 Harlem Bush Music - Taifa Milestone Nat Bettis, Andy Bey, Harold White
1971 Harlem Bush Music - Uhuru Milestone Ron Carter, Juini Booth, Nat Bettis, Andy Bey
1972 Juju Street Songs Prestige Stafford James, Harvey Mason
1972 Follow the Medicine Man Prestige Hector Centeno, Hubert Eaves III, Andy Bey
1973 I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies Prestige Stafford James, Howard King
1973 Singerella: A Ghetto Fairy Tale Prestige Hector Centeno, Howard King, Hubert Eaves III, James Benjamin, Kenneth Nash, Maynard Parker
1973 Altissimo Philips Charlie Mariano, Jackie McLean, Lee Konitz, Joachim Kühn, Han Bennink, Palle Danielsson
1975 The Shadow Do! Prestige[9] Hubert Eaves III, Michael Henderson, Reggie Lucas, James Mtume, Howard King
1976 Juju Man Catalyst Curtis Robertson, Howard King, Charles Mims, Syreeta
1977 Music Is My Sanctuary Capitol Syreeta Wright, Mizell Brothers
1978 Love Affair Capitol Wah Wah Watson, Dorothy Ashby, Welton Gite, Bill Summers, George Cables, Wade Marcus
1978 Love Song Vee-Jay George Cables, Curtis Robinson, Howard King, Rita Greene
1980 Bartz Arista Howard King, Hubert Eaves III
1988 Monsoon SteepleChase Butch Lacy, Billy Hart, Clint Houston
1988 Reflections of Monk: The Final Frontier SteepleChase Bob Butta, Geoff Harper, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson
1990 West 42nd Street (Live) Candid Claudio Roditi, John Hicks, Ray Drummond, Al Foster
1991 There Goes the Neighborhood! (Live) Candid Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley
1991 Shadows Timeless[10] Benny Green, Christian McBride, Victor Lewis, Willie Williams
1994 Episode One: Children of Harlem Challenge Larry Willis, Ben Riley, Buster Williams
1994 The Red and Orange Poems Atlantic Dave Holland, Mulgrew Miller, Eddie Henderson
1995 Alto Memories Verve[11] Sonny Fortune, Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, Jack DeJohnette
1996 Blues Chronicles: Tales of Life Atlantic Tom Williams, George Colligan, James King, Greg Bandy, Jon Hendricks, Cyrus Chestnut, Russell Malone, Dennis Chambers
1999 Live @ the Jazz Standard, Vol. 1: Soulstice OYO[12] Barney McAll, Greg Bandy, Kenny Davis
2001 The Montreal Concert (Live) DSM Peter Leitch
2003 Continuum Act One Space Time Jean Toussaint, Bill Mobley, Donald Brown, Essiet Essiet, Billy Kilson, Anga Diaz
2005 Soprano Stories OYO James King, Greg Bandy, George Cables, John Hicks
2012 Coltrane Rules: Tao of a Music Warrior OYO Barney McAll, Greg Bandy, James King

As sideman[edit]

With Joe Chambers

  • Urban Groove[13] (441 Records 2003 )
    Bartz playing with McCoy Tyner at Jazz Alley, Seattle, in 2012

With the Rance Allen Group

  • Say My Friend (1977)[14]

With Gene Ammons

With Roy Ayers

With Cindy Blackman

With Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

With Donald Brown

With Kenny Burrell

With Donald Byrd

With George Cables

With Norman Connors

With Miles Davis

With Ray Drummond

With Antonio Hart

  • Don't You Know That I Care (1992)

With Louis Hayes

With Heads of State[15]

  • Search for Peace (Smoke Sessions, 2015)
  • Four in One (Smoke Sessions, 2017)

With Phyllis Hyman

With Barney McAll

  • Release the Day (2001)
  • Precious Energy (2022)
  • Precious Energy Re-UP (2023)

With Jackie McLean

With Grachan Moncur III

With Alphonse Mouzon

  • Virtue (1976)

With Rare Silk

  • New Weave

With Max Roach

With Wallace Roney

With Pharoah Sanders

With Woody Shaw

With Sphere

With Charles Tolliver

With Bob Thiele Collective

  • Lion Hearted (1993)

With Leon Thomas

With Malachi Thompson

With McCoy Tyner

With Robert Walter

  • Spirit of '70 (1996)

With Chip White

With John Lee & Gerry Brown

With The Midnight Hour (with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammed)

  • Jazz Is Dead 001, Distant Mode (2020)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. ^ a b "Artist: Gary Bartz". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  3. ^ "The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 - Miles Davis | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Gary Bartz". AllMusic. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "Native Baltimorean Gary Bartz to Receive 2015 Living Legacy Award," Baltimore Jazz Alliance
  6. ^ "Gary Bartz Previews 50th Anniversary 'Another Earth' Winter JazzFest Show With Pharoah Sanders". Pollstar.com. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  7. ^ "Moon31 | Large Scale Events". Moon31.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Gary Bartz". Oberlin.edu. 28 October 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  9. ^ "The Shadow Do! - Gary Bartz | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Shadows - Gary Bartz | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  11. ^ "Alto Memories - Gary Bartz | User Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  12. ^ "Live @ the Jazz Standard, Vol. 1: Soulstice - Gary Bartz | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  13. ^ "Joe Chambers - Urban Grooves". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  14. ^ "Say My Friend - The Rance Allen Group, Rance Allen | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  15. ^ "Artists - Smoke Sessions Records". September 26, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26.

External links[edit]