Happy 80th Birthday, Gary Bartz!

[Justin V]

Gary Bartz is 80 today.  Here's wishing him a happy birthday.  I'll spin some of his music this weekend.

[felser]

Masterly musician with a diverse recording legacy.  Saw him live twice, once at the Tower Theatre in the 70's (his crossover phase, did "Macaroni"), once at the Mill Creek Jazz Society in the 90's (straight ahead with the house rhythm section led by Sid Simmons), and he seemed like a very kind man.

[bertrand]

Great musician, and super nice guy. Long overdue for an NEA Jazz Masters award, IMHO.

[sidewinder]

I saw him with Eddie Henderson covering their various fusion projects. Happy Birthday, Mr Bartz !

Edited September 27, 2020 by sidewinder

[BFrank]

Saw him at the NYC Winter Jazzfest in 2019 w/Kahil El Zabar, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Robert Irving III. Great to see him ... and THEM!

[Gheorghe]

I like his playing very much, will spin the "Heads of State"

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I've actually been able to see Bartz perform live a lot more in the past 8 years than I had in previous 25. For some reason, he just didn't seem to come through Boston at the right time. Great player. His 2012 release, "Coltrane Rules (Tao Of A Music Warrior) is a great record. I can't believe he's 80.

[BFrank]

Still love the Harlem Bush Music albums from the 70s.

[Hardbopjazz]

Happy birthday, Gary. Enjoy and stay healthy.  

[Peter Friedman]

Happy Birthday Gary. Here are a couple of my favorite of his recordings.

[JSngry]

Still 10 years younger than Sonny Rollins!

[felser]

Still my very favorite Bartz release, and still no CD reissue (how did OJC overlook it?).  Also excellent Woody Shaw on this one:

[mjazzg]

On 27/09/2020 at 1:16 PM, bresna said:

I've actually been able to see Bartz perform live a lot more in the past 8 years than I had in previous 25. For some reason, he just didn't seem to come through Boston at the right time. Great player. His 2012 release, "Coltrane Rules (Tao Of A Music Warrior) is a great record. I can't believe he's 80.

I didn't know this album. Listening now and it's very good. Thanks for posting about it.

4 hours ago, felser said:

Still my very favorite Bartz release, and still no CD reissue (how did OJC overlook it?).  Also excellent Woody Shaw on this one:

👍🏼👍🏼Love that one. I think I may have bought after reading about it here a few years ago

[BFrank]

15 hours ago, felser said:

Still my very favorite Bartz release, and still no CD reissue (how did OJC overlook it?).  Also excellent Woody Shaw on this one:

Never seen that. Too bad it's OOP.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

20 hours ago, felser said:

Still my very favorite Bartz release, and still no CD reissue (how did OJC overlook it?).  Also excellent Woody Shaw on this one:

Just don't ask Gary why this hasn't come out on CD. I don't think he'll be polite with his answer. I bet he doesn't care one way or the other. He told me he hasn't made a penny from any of his earlier records. In fact, he told me to just copy it. He didn't care because he didn't make any money either way. He was very bitter about it. I gather he's not a fan of the music industry.

[felser]

3 hours ago, bresna said:

Just don't ask Gary why this hasn't come out on CD. I don't think he'll be polite with his answer. I bet he doesn't care one way or the other. He told me he hasn't made a penny from any of his earlier records. In fact, he told me to just copy it. He didn't care because he didn't make any money either way. He was very bitter about it. I gather he's not a fan of the music industry.

Milestone and Prestige were major jazz labels back in that era.  Does anyone here know what their approach was on compensating artists for their albums in the late 60's to mid-70's?

[BFrank]

15 hours ago, felser said:

Milestone and Prestige were major jazz labels back in that era.  Does anyone here know what their approach was on compensating artists for their albums in the late 60's to mid-70's?

Those were Orrin Keepnews projects, right?

[JSngry]

Would that have been the first commercial release of a Left Bank recording?

[felser]

10 hours ago, BFrank said:

Those were Orrin Keepnews projects, right?

The Milestones were, but not the Prestiges that followed.

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Would that have been the first commercial release of a Left Bank recording?

AFAIK it was.  

[bertrand]

On 9/27/2020 at 8:16 AM, bresna said:

I've actually been able to see Bartz perform live a lot more in the past 8 years than I had in previous 25. For some reason, he just didn't seem to come through Boston at the right time. Great player. His 2012 release, "Coltrane Rules (Tao Of A Music Warrior) is a great record. I can't believe he's 80.

Isn't there a Coltrane Rules, Volume Two that is MP3 only?

On 10/1/2020 at 11:18 AM, felser said:

The Milestones were, but not the Prestiges that followed.

AFAIK it was.  

When did the Roy Brooks come out?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

5 hours ago, bertrand said:

Isn't there a Coltrane Rules, Volume Two that is MP3 only?

If there is, I've never found it. Bartz has a Bandcamp page and it's not there. There are several that are download only too.

[felser]

6 hours ago, bertrand said:

When did the Roy Brooks come out?

1972.  The Bartz came out in 1970.