In 2019, Gilles Peterson asked London-based jazz drummer/producer Jake Long to assemble a band to back American saxophonist Gary Bartz at the first We Out Here Festival. He chose Maisha, his forward-thinking electric jazz and improv group. Following the wildly successful show, the parties booked a recording studio to deliver the raw, darkly vibrant Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions. Long’s 2020s project is Your Brother’s Keeper. It consists of himself on drums with Maisha veterans Ali MacSween on piano, electronics, and modular EFX, trumpeter Axel Kaner-Lidstrom, double bassist Twm Dylan, percussionist Tim Doyle and top-flight saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael. While collective interplay and improvisation are central tenets in this record’s purpose, it’s not…
Tag Archive: Gary Bartz
At nearly 85, saxophonist and bandleader Gary Bartz releases Damage Control, his first leader date in 12 years. It’s the first volume in a proposed trilogy titled The Eternal Tenure of Sound. Bartz highlights another side of his musical persona here: the love of popular soul and R&B. These are the jams he sings in the shower. It contains songs associated with artists including Earth Wind & Fire, Curtis Mayfield, Anita Baker, Patti LaBelle, El DeBarge, Dexter Wansel, Norman Connors, and McCoy Tyner.
Damage Control was produced by drummer/percussionist Om’Mas Keith (Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Erykah Badu, Frank Ocean). It was recorded at his Los Angeles studio. Bartz wrote startling charts that transform these covers…