91ֱ��

Biography

Gary Bartz, named a , is a prolific recording artist with more than 45 solo albums to his credit; he's appeared on more than 200 as a guest artist. 

The was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in his hometown of Baltimore. He ventured to New York City to attend the Juilliard School in 1958. After graduating, Bartz joined the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln Group and the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop, quickly earning a reputation as the greatest alto saxophonist since Cannonball Adderley. In 1965, Bartz joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and recorded Soulfinger, his recording debut. Around the same time, he began working with McCoy Tyner, and their relationship deepened the influence of John Coltrane on Bartz.

In 1970, Bartz received a call from Miles Davis, who asked Bartz to perform with his band at the historic Isle of Wight Festival. In the same year, Bartz also formed his own group, Ntu Troop, after the Bantu word for “unity.” Ntu blended soul, funk, African folk music, hard bop, and avant-garde jazz on such albums as I’ve Known Rivers and Other Bodies, based on the poetry of Langston Hughes, as well as Music is My Sanctuary, Love Affair, Another Earth, and Home.

More recently, he released Coltrane Rules: Tao of a Music Warrior, Live at the Jazz Standard Volume 1 and Volume 2, and several others, on his own label, OYO, which is named for the Nigerian tribe and the acronym “Own Your Own.” In 2020, Gary Bartz collaborated with the London-based spiritual jazz ensemble, Maisha, on Night Dreamer's  Direct-to-Disc Sessions on a vinyl format LP.

Bartz has been on the 91ֱ�� Conservatory of Music faculty since 2001.