Gary Bartz

Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz with McCoy Tyner, at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, 2007
Background information
Born	(1940-09-26) September 26, 1940 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Saxophone
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Milestone, Prestige, P-Vine, SteepleChase, Candid, Atlantic, Blue Note, Mapleshade
Website	www.garybartz.com

Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.^[1]

Biography

Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and the Juilliard School; his break into the music industry came when filling in with Art Blakey's band at his father's club in Baltimore.

Bartz has played with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, and Jackie McLean. His group, the Ntu Troop, combined soul, funk, African music, hard bop, and avant-garde jazz.^[1]

In liner notes to his album released in 1995, The Red and Orange Poems, Bartz was described by jazz critic Stanley Crouch as "one of the very best who has ever picked up the instrument". He has recorded more than 40 solo albums and over 200 as a guest artist. He won a Grammy Award in 2005 for his playing on McCoy Tyner's album Illuminations.^[1]

Bartz was awarded the BNY Mellon Jazz 2015 Living Legacy Award, presented at a special ceremony at The Kennedy Center.^[2] He currently teaches at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, when not touring.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

Bartz playing with McCoy Tyner, 2012

With the Rance Allen Group

• Say My Friend (1977)^[7]

With Gene Ammons

• Goodbye (Prestige, 1974)

With Roy Ayers

• Stoned Soul Picnic (Atlantic, 1968)

With Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

• Soul Finger (Limelight, 1965) Bartz recording debut
• Hold On, I'm Coming (Limelight, 1966) on one track leftover from Soul Finger sessions

With Kenny Burrell

• Ellington Is Forever Volume Two (Fantasy, 1975)

With Donald Byrd

• Stepping into Tomorrow (1974)
• Caricatures (1976)

With Norman Connors

• Invitation
• Slewfoot
• This is Your Life
• Invitation
• Love from the Sun
• Dance of Magic: Live at the Nemu Jazz Inn
• Romantic Journey
• Saturday Night Special

With Miles Davis

• The Cellar Door Sessions (1970)
• Live-Evil
• Bitches Brew Live (2011)
• Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (2015)

With Antonio Hart

• Don't You Know That I Care (1992)

With Phyllis Hyman

• You Know How to Love Me
• Phyllis Hyman
• Can't We Fall in Love Again?

With Barney McAll

• Release the Day (2001)

With Jackie McLean

• Ode to Super (SteepleChase, 1973)

With Grachan Moncur III

• Exploration (2004)

With Alphonse Mouzon

• Virtue (1976)

With Rare Silk

• New Weave

With Max Roach

• Members, Don't Git Weary (Atlantic, 1968)

With Pharoah Sanders

• Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) (Impulse!, 1970)

With Woody Shaw

• Blackstone Legacy (Contemporary, 1970)
• For Sure! (Columbia, 1979)

With Sphere

• Sphere (1987) – Verve

With Charles Tolliver

• Paper Man (Freedom, 1968 [1975])

With Bob Thiele Collective

• Lion Hearted (1993)

With McCoy Tyner

• Expansions (1968)
• Cosmos (1970)
• Extensions (1970)
• Asante (1970)
• Sama Layuca (1974)
• Focal Point (1976)
• Looking Out (1982)
• Dimensions (1984)
• McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars (1999)
• Illuminations (2004)

With Robert Walter

• Spirit of '70 (1996)

With Chip White

• Harlem Sunset with Steve Nelson, Robin Eubanks, Claudio Roditi (Postcards)

With John Lee & Gerry Brown

• Infinite Jones with Chris Hinze (Keytone, 1974)

References

External links

• MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music