Gary Bartz

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.

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.

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

As sideman

With the Rance Allen Group

With Gene Ammons

With Roy Ayers

With Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

With Kenny Burrell

With Donald Byrd

With Norman Connors

With Miles Davis

With Antonio Hart

With Louis Hayes

With Phyllis Hyman

With Barney McAll

With Jackie McLean

With Grachan Moncur III

With Alphonse Mouzon

With Rare Silk

With Max Roach

With Pharoah Sanders

With Woody Shaw

With Sphere

With Charles Tolliver

With Bob Thiele Collective

With McCoy Tyner

With Robert Walter

With Chip White

With John Lee & Gerry Brown