Tune in on Saturday, December 14th at 4pm to hear Oakland based saxophonist Gary Bartz in conversation with Nickel Hardaway. Gary Bartz is one of music’s most eminent and visionary voices.
The Grammy-winning, recently-inducted NEA Jazz Master stopped by the KALX studios following a stunning performance at SFJAZZ revisiting his landmark NTU Troop recordings of the 1970s.
Bartz was born in Baltimore in 1940 and at an early age began to face the reality of growing up black in a city with severely drawn racial lines. He was also exposed to music from early childhood—his father operated a jazz club in Baltimore, the North End Lounge, where Gary played as a teenager. He was 11 when he received his first instrument, an alto saxophone. In 1958, Bartz moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School. He soon joined Charles Mingus’ Jazz Workshop, where he played alongside greats like Eric Dolphy, later performing with Max Roach, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
In 1969, Bartz formed the pioneering NTU Troop, blending blues, jazz, funk, African folk music, and social consciousness. Their albums, such as Harlem Bush Music and I’ve Known Rivers and Other Bodies, became groundbreaking works. During this time, Miles Davis tapped Bartz to join his band, performing at the iconic Isle of Wight Festival and contributing to the seminal Live/Evil sessions.
With a career spanning six decades, Bartz has built a highly successful body of work that remains massively influential today.
He is currently a professor of saxophone and jazz performance at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, where he has taught since 2001. Bartz focuses his teaching on finding new ways for his students to “open their ears,” always emphasizing the importance of listening.