The Red and Orange Poems
Gary Bartz may well be the next Joe Henderson. Like Henderson, Bartz not only brings a fat, creamy tone and an ingenious harmonic grasp to the saxophone but also a maturity which enables him to say something with his technique. For his 1995 major-label comeback, Bartz assembled an all-star sextet featuring bassist Dave Holland, pianist Mulgrew Miller, and trumpeter Eddie Henderson. The key is Holland, who brings a sense of urgency to the proceedings as his hard-swinging eighth notes roam freely through the changes in search of melodic phrases. Bartz responds to this thrust from the bottom not by playing a million notes as fast as he can but by mixing rests and sustained notes in with his speedy passages. This creates a dramatic, push-and-pull tension which gives the music its personality.--Geoffrey Himes