Jazz saxophonist from West Baltimore. His dad owned the North End Lounge at the corner of North Avenue and Gay Street where Gary enjoyed hearing the local jazz and R&B musicians while he was growing up. As a teenager his dad took him to sit in with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln at the Club Casino. Gary would later meet up with Max in New York. He attended Douglass High, City College, Julliard School of Music in New York, and returned to attend the Peabody Institute.
In 1958 the tenor saxophonist moved to New York where he landed a job with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In the ensuing years Gary worked with many top musicians including McCoy Tyner (earning a GRAMMY in 1975 for his performance on the album “Illuminations”), Max Roach, Blue Mitchell, Miles Davis, Norman Connors…
The Gary Bartz Quartet played local clubs including the North End in 1960, featuring vocalist Vi Clark.
Throughout the 1960s his jazz group known as the Gary Bartz All Stars continued to play at the North End. Members of the group consisted of Mousey Johnson (trumpet), Hugh Walker (drums), Bill Henderson (bass ex-Bobby Young Quartet), and Jean DuValle (piano). A mid-60s lineup included Bartz with Donald Bailey (bass), Joe Blair (piano), and Bernard Sweetney (drums).
1964 ad: Gary Bartz with Blue Mitchell at North End Lounge
His first LP titled “Libra” was released in 1967 on Milestone Records. Through 2000 he has released over 30 LPs on Milestone, Prestige, Capitol, Vee Jay, Arista, Steeple Chase, Candid, Atlantic, Verve, and other labels. In addition to solo work and the NTU Troop recordings Bartz made dozens of record appearances for other artists including Roy Ayers 1968 LP “Stoned Soul Picnic,” Terumasa Hino’s 1971 LP “Love Nature,” Alphonso Johnson’s “Moonshadows” (1976), Buddy Guy’s “Hot and Cool” (1979)…
Bartz performed with Miles Davis at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. He also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973.
With the NTU Troop Gary performed in the early ‘70s at the Famous Ballroom. The group included Andy Bey (vocals, keys), Hubert Eaves (piano), Stafford James (bass), and Howard King (drums).
Bartz graced the national charts in the late ‘70s with several solo R&B records on Capitol: “Shake Your Body” and an instrumental “Love Ballad.” In 1980 Gary scored with the instrumental “Music” on Arista Records.
Hugh Walker was later with the Jazz Five. In the ‘00s Bartz made special performances at the Baltimore Artscape Festivals, and concerts at the Baltimore Museum of Art…
Selective Gary Bartz album and 45 discography includes:
1967 Milestone 9006 Libra
1968 Milestone 9018 Another Earth
1969 Milestone Home
1971 Prestige Uhuru
1971 Prestige 903 Harlem Bush Music
1972 Prestige JuJu Street Songs
1973 Prestige I’ve Known Rivers and Other Bodies
1973 Prestige Singerella: A Ghetto Fairy Tale
1975 Prestige Shadow Do
1976 Capitol JuJu Man
1977 Capitol Music Is My Sanctuary
1977(7”) Capitol 4462 Love Ballad / (same)
1978 Capitol 11789 Love Affair
1980 Arista 4263 Bartz
1980(7”) Arista After the Love Is Gone / Keep Goin’ On
1990 Candid There Goes the Neighborhood
1995 Atlantic Jazz The Red and Orange Poems
