Review: Gary Bartz’s ‘The Eternal Tenure of Sound: Damage Control’

One of our few links to bands of Miles, McCoy Tyner, Pharaoh Sanders, Lee Morgan, and Roy Hargrove, NEA Jazz Master and soon-to-be-eighty-five-year-old Gary Bartz has earned the right to do whatever he pleases. Damage Control (OYO, 2025) is the first installment in The Eternal Tenure of Sound trilogy, self-funded by Bartz and produced by longtime collaborator and godson, Om’mas Keith. Through Keith, Bartz was able to recruit a stunning cast of musicians, including Kassa Overall, Brandee Younger, Theo Croker, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Nile Rodgers, and Cory Henry, among them.

Damage Control, Bartz’s first album as a leader in twelve years, is not at all what most of us expected. To this listener, upon first listening and without any guiding posts, the record sounds like Grover Washington Jr. playing alto saxophone. That’s because Bartz gravitates to tunes he often sings in the shower, those with a strong R&B bent, rendered by artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Anita Baker, Patti LaBelle, Maurice White, and DeBarge, among others. Given that Bartz grew up in Baltimore, where a stew of jazz, soul, and R&B was prominent, he is not the first to take this route. Fellow Baltimorian Warren Wolf also made an R&B album, Reincarnation (Mack Avenue, 2020). Charm City’s emerging trumpeter Brandon Woody’s Blue Note debut, For the Love of it All (Blue Note, 2025), also has distinct streaks of R&B and soul, though neither as overt as on Damage Control. Bartz, who describes his genre-agnostic approach, “Had they been the same age and in the same city at the same time, John Coltrane could have gone to school and graduated with James Brown.” In fact, Coltrane is forever in Bartz’s mind. He calls this his “Ballads” album. In another sense, the R&B strains are not that far removed from Bartz’s 2021 collaboration with Jazz Is Dead [Gary Bartz JID006 (Jazz is Dead, 2021)]. 

Damage Control’s core trio has Bartz on alto and vocals with his three-decade-long collaborator Barney McCall on piano and keys, and either Keith or Overall on drums and percussion. Opener is the melodic, flowing Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “Fantasy” with Bartz’s leading alto supported by Younger’s harp, Miles Kahil’s tenor, Sam Anning on electric guitar, Croker on trumpet, and Elias McCall’s nylon string guitar. Toward the end, we hear Bartz’s vocals in harmony with Rita Satch.  “One Hundred Ways,” most often associated with Quincy Jones, is another smooth flowing tune, fueled by the guitars of Juewett Bostick and Spaceman Patterson.

Bartz transforms McCoy Tyner’s standout “In Search of My Heart & Love Surrounds Us Everywhere” into a funky workout, bringing in heavy hitters Washington, Martin, Rodgers, Croker, Henry, and Dominque Sanders for a sweaty, highly improvised full ten minutes, filled with solos as Bartz’s alto soars to the stratosphere. He then reverses course with a tender reading of Curtis Mayfield’s “Makings of You,” with among others, Bostick, Patterson, and Younger contributing. Again, Bartz sings rather non-distinctively, though we know that’s not his forte. Accordingly, he trades the lead vocals on Anita Baker’s “You Bring Me Joy” with the deeply soulful Daniel Merriweather, who, along with Satch, continues to assist with the Philly sound of Norman Connor/Michael E. Henderson’s “You Are My Starship,” taken at a soothingly relaxed R&B pace, imbued by McCall’s brimming Rhodes solo and Tarron Crayton’s thumping electric bass.

Vocalist Shelly FKA Dram enters for Babyface’s “Slow Jam,” singing with Satch, as they deliver a faithful rendering of the tune, through which Bartz’s alto blends melodically with the voices. His full-toned alto and McCall’s keys set up Satch’s lead vocal on Patti LaBelle’s “If Only You Knew.” Ambrosia’s 1980 number one hit “Biggest Part of Me” features Croker, with Satch and Bartz again sharing vocals, with the leader’s alto helming the melody, serving as a vocalist as well. The album closes with DeBarge’s 1983 mega hit “Love Me In a Special Way,” again with Merriweather and Satch on vocals, supporting Bartz’s ever-melodic alto.

Damage Control is not what you expect from the renowned edgy altoist Bartz, but one can’t deny his crystalline tone and superb melodic sense. Get your late evening R&B groove on and prepare yourself for the next installment, coming early in 2026, featuring members of the Australian funk band, Hiatus Kaiyote.

‘The Eternal Tenure of Sound: Damage Control’ will be released on OYO Records on September 26, 2025. It can be purchased on Bandcamp. You can go further in depth with our interview with Bartz on the album.

Photo credit: Brian BPlus Cross