Saxophonist Gary Bartz, a two-time Grammy winner, was recently named 2024 Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Currently teaching at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Bartz has made 45 solo albums and performed with an astonishing array of jazz greats.

After studying at The Juilliard School, Bartz played with the Abbey Lincoln Group with Max Roach and the Charles Mingus Workshop. In the mid-1960s, he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers during the recording of Soul Finger. He then worked with McCoy Tyner, deepening his connection to one of his major influences, John Coltrane. In 1970, Miles Davis asked Bartz to perform with his band at the historic Isle of Wight Festival; soon after, Bartz formed his own group, Ntu Troop, which blends soul, funk, African folk, hard bop, and avant-garde jazz on such albums as I’ve Known Rivers and Other Bodies, based on the poems of Langston Hughes; Music Is My Sanctuary; Love Affair; Another Earth; and Home.

In 2020, Bartz collaborated with the London-based spiritual jazz ensemble Maisha on Night Dreamer’s Direct-to-Disc Sessions. He also runs his own label, OYO, named for both the Nigerian tribe and the acronym for “own your own.” His band includes Marc Cary (piano), James B. King Jr. (bass), Eric Kennedy (drums), and Paul Bollenback (guitar).

Trinity presents Jazz Icons in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, to showcase some of the most prolific and influential artists in music history.

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