Gary Bartz

Born: September 26, 1940

Gary Bartz has been known to many as a trail blazer in the music business from the moment he started playing with Art Blakey at his father’s jazz club in his hometown of Baltimore, MD to his own music throughout the 57 years as a professional musician. As if his Grammy Award© with McCoy Tyner in 2005 (‘Illuminations’) wasn’t enough to carve out a place for Bartz in the jazz genre, he has broken the mold with more than 40 solo albums and over 200 as a guest artist.

Gary Bartz first came to New York In 1958 to attend the Julliard Conservatory of Music. Just 17 years old, Gary couldn't wait to come to the city to play and learn. "It was a very good time for the music in New York, at the end of what had been the be-bop era," says Bartz. "Charlie Parker had passed away three years previously but Miles' group was in its heyday, Monk was down at the Five Spot, and Ornette Coleman was just coming to town. Things were fresh." Back then, Gary could regularly be found drinking Cokes in the all ages "peanut gallery" of Birdland, enjoying a marathon bill of performers. "If I didn't have money to get in. I'd help somebody carry a drum and sneak in," laughs Bartz. "I learned that early on."

Gary Bartz, Zoh Amba, Greg Tardy and Oscar Rossignoli

by Hobart Taylor
August 6, 2025

New music from Gary Bartz, Zoh Amba, Oscar Rossignoli and Allison Miller. Playlist Gary Bartz “In Search of my Heart-Love Surrounds Us" from Damage Control (OYO) 00:00 Zoh Amba “ Seaside" from Sun (Smalltownsounds) 10:08 Host Speaks 17:02 Allison Miller “Fierce" from Big and Lovely (Royal Potato Family) 18:35 George Burton Alexa Barchini “Your ...

Opa and The Blackbyrds: Coveted 1970s Jazz-Funk

by Mark Sullivan
July 29, 2025

Opa released only two albums before disbanding in the early 1980s. While neither of their albums found commercial success during their initial releases (despite the high-profile personalities involved), both titles gained underground followings over the following decades. The Blackbyrds' City Life celebrates its golden anniversary. “Happy Music," the dancefloor-ready title track and the group's heavily sampled ...

Theo Croker, Sarah Buechi, Jon Irabagon, Nicholas Payton and Anais Reno

by Hobart Taylor
July 23, 2025

New releases from Theo Croker, Jon Irabagon, Anais Reno and Nicholas Payton.Playlist Yuko Mabuchi “Tribute to my Homeland" from Quantum (SRG Jazz/Universal) 00:00 Satoko Fujii “ Aruku" from Dream a Dream (Libra) 9:08 Host Speaks 19:47 Jon Irabagon “At What Price Garlic" from Someone to Someone (Irabbagast) 21:09 James Brandon Lewis “Left Alone" from ...

Sun Ra: Live at the left Bank, Lights on a Satellite

by Stefano Merighi
July 11, 2025

La seconda met�� degli anni Settanta vede l'Arkestra di Sun Ra gi�� in un momento di bilanci. Vent'anni di attivit��, una parabola virtuosa che congiunge inizi avventurosi, incompresi, a sviluppi ricchissimi di idee, che oltrepassano sia il post-swing degli esordi che il free radicale, per planare in quello stile composito e stratificato, totalmente personale, ...

Fievel Is Glauque: Zach Phillips Believes Harmony Does Not End With Writing

by Dean Nardi
May 27, 2025

Fievel Is Glauque is an integration between multi-instrumentalist Zach Phillips and vocalist Ma Cl��ment along with a mutable cast of eminent musicians. Their latest album is the homophone-titled Rong Weicknes (Fat Possum, 2024), which may or may not also be an oxymoron. Linguistics aside, this fantabulous collection of songs may well be the most ...

Sharel Cassity: In the Spirit

by Katchie Cartwright
May 19, 2025

Even on an old familiar tune like Charlie Chaplin's “Smile" (1936), it is clear from note one that Sharel Cassity is a child of Bird, an altoist in the modernist tradition of Charlie Parker. Her first influence was actually her biological father, an organist, with whom she shared the stage in New Orleans at age 11, ...

Meet Andy Bey

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 12, 2025

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared on All About Jazz in February 2000. Listening for the first time to Andy Bey is like stepping into a quiet, still lake. Your foot first parts a surface that's smooth and tranquil, but you can't really tell from that surface how deeply your foot must ...

Gary Bartz Quintet at Jazz Alley

by Paul Rauch
May 5, 2025

Gary Bartz Quintet Jazz Alley Seattle, WA April 29, 2025 As an alto saxophonist, NEA Jazz Master Gary Bartz has merged freedom and form in historic fashion, in the process acquiring an understanding of the art of improvisation, or what Bartz refers to as “informal composition," in a unique ...

Artemis: Arboresque

by Mike Jurkovic
March 15, 2025

The virtuoso musicians of Artemis--pianist Renee Rosnes?trumpeter Ingrid Jensen?saxophonist Nicole Glover?bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller?--get down to business quick on their third for Blue Note Arboresque. A testament to collaborative intuition and instinct,? Arboresque may vary more in tempo and mood than its acclaimed predecessors--2023's ringing In Real Time?and 2020's standard-setting debut Artemis--but it ...