Gary Bartz - Music Is My Sanctuary - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

2020 . It may be somewhat ironic, yet ultimately fitting that this, the final recording by Larry Willis, brought the veteran pianist/composer right back to the place where he first began his impressive career as recording artist that spanned over a period of six decades. The Harlem, New York born Willis first entered the hallowed halls of Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio as a twenty-two year old graduate of the Manhattan School of Music on January 29, 1965 to record with Jackie McLean for Blue Note Records. Willis's expansive resume includes entries with the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Stan Getz, Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, Clifford Jordan, Carmen McRae, David InchFatheadInch Newman, Woody Shaw, and many more. He appeared on hundreds of albums as a sideman and dozens more as a leader of his own impressive bands. The music played here with long-time friends Victor Lewis and Joe Ford, and his relatively new colleague Jeremy Pelt shows Larry Willis displaying the intense creativity and impeccable taste which made him once of the most respected keyboard artists in jazz.

Ju Ju Man (1976) showcases altoist Gary Bartz at his finest, delivering a mostly straight-ahead jazz session amidst a period of seeking commercial success in the late 70s. Teaming up with pianist Charles Mims, bassist Curtis Robertson, and drummer Howard King, Bartz crafts here a stimulating set that includes the standout Coltrane-inspired InchJu Ju ManInch. The album also features swinging tracks like InchStraight StreetInch and InchPisces Daddy Blue,Inch and rare solos on soprano and clarinet in InchChelsea BridgeInch. Remastered and reissued for 2024, this album solidified Bartz's reputation as a distinctive reedman, despite the rarity of original Catalyst tag LPs.

This 1980 is a superb extension of Gary's work at Capitol Records with Larry Mizell. James Mtume & Reggie Lucas lend their hand to a different type of produced sound for them and they come through with flying colors resulting in a superb sophisticated jazz style of their own complimenting Garys alto.