Tom Skinner
Voices Of Bishara

The shadow that Gary Bartz casts over the last six decades of progressive Black music, and his continued dedication to same, makes him a logical and very welcome contributor to the Jazz Is Dead label. An alto saxophonist steeped in the history and tradition of his instrument who is also restlessly experimental and not prone to purism of any kind, he enjoys both the respect and admiration of his peers and the hero worship of several generations after him – including Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, which inevitably led to Gary Bartz JID 006.A look at his body of work reveals dalliances with bebop, hard bop, free jazz, spiritual jazz, soul jazz, jazz-funk, fusion and acid jazz, all while resolutely remaining unmistakably Gary Bartz. There's early work with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop, work with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, a stint in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and also one with Miles. There's his groundbreaking and highly influential Ntu Troop albums of the early ‘70s and his jazz-funk work including two classic albums with the Mizell Brothers, one of which supplied A Tribe Called Quest with a sample that was smooth like butter. And while on the subject of samples, the Bartz catalog has provided hip-hop and other genres with a rich source of them, and artists who have gone to his well when producing beats also include Black Sheep, Jurassic 5, Casual, RPM, Warren G, Photek, Statik Selektah, Chi-Ali, 3rd Bass, Showbiz, Z Trip, Young Disciples, and many others.The socio-political content of much of Bartz’s work, particularly during the early ‘70s, is another factor that has captured the attention of and influenced many. He was wide awake to the pressing issues of his day, which sadly haven't changed much in a half-century—long before the term "woke" was ever coined—which adds continued relevance and resonance to albums like the two Harlem Bush Music LPs. Speaking his mind and expressing thoughts and feelings lyrically and vocally were a consistent aspect of his work during this era, but even with all this there's always still a space within Gary's oeuvre for the celebration of simple and beautiful basic truths. “Working with Gary Bartz epitomizes the ethos behind Jazz Is Dead,” says Younge. “He’s a luminary that has contributed so much to music culture, for decades. His musical ability is expanding with age and we’re honored to be a part of his world.”"Day By Day" brings Bartz full circle by placing him in a more modern context which he contributed to creating in the first place. It takes certain sonic cues from Muhammad's old group, A Tribe Called Quest, while also calling to mind neo-soul a little bit. But the icing on the cake is the unexpected and gorgeous vocal chorus which is like the sun coming out and which once again harks back to an element familiar to Mizell fans.With its propulsive bassline steadily prodding the track along, "The Message" is strongly rooted in classic ‘70s modal jazz and serves as the spiritual and emotional centerpiece of the album. The instrumental interplay and textures would have been perfectly at home on the Black Jazz label even though there's also a certain almost intangible postmodern, 21st century approach to that style, perfectly in keeping with Bartz's well-known tendency to look forward, not backwards.The main thrust of "Black And Brown" is an immersion

50th ANNIVERSARY EDITIONHeavyweight Vinyl 45 RPM Cut / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer / Insert with extensive liner notes by Tony Higgins printed on 200 gram Fedrigoni Tintoretto Melange Every time we walk into a record store digging for music we look for something different, something that satisfies our emotional demand in that moment. There are some records that turn out to be important only in the worst moments of our life; the thrill of a rare vinyl record that we have always been looking for, in which the liner notes that tell us the story of that night, of that recording, of those days creating an arrangement. But there are also records that tell us nothing; records without liner notes or information, those records that bring us unexpected reflections by great masters of music who spent themselves on a friend who hasn't published much and who deserves more. There are the sudden goodbyes, wordless love songs and poignant words that everyone hears but the one person who should listen to them never will. What if there was a disc that contains all of these? When we met Steve Kuhn, he told us a story that can only be told to a brief traveling companion, someone who will get off after a few stops and will never be seen again. So it was that Steve opened his heart without anyone asking, like a memory fished out from the distant past, awakened by a smell, a sound, or the vision of a record cover. We are delighted to have the opportunity to tell this story, a tale never told until now. 50 years from that day it was recorded, it's a record that keeps all its emotional power intact, undimmed by half a century. Together, we will retrace the most intimate of records from an elegant, intellectual and romantic musician, who will excite you, but not as you would expect. released February 1, 2022