Son of a jazz-club owner, Gary Bartz began playing alto saxophone at the age of 11. He studied at Juilliard and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore before making his debut with the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln band in 1964. One year later, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, followed by stints with Charles Tolliver, Blue Mitchell, McCoy Tyner, and Miles Davis. Following Davis, Bartz formed Nu Troop in 1972, moving further into funk fusion throughout the decade, then returning to hard bop, to which his assertive, agile improvising is best suited (displayed on 1990's There Goes the Neighborhood). Though he led fewer dates after the '80s, he remained active as a collaborator and sideman. In 2003, Bartz joined the Jazz Studies department at Oberlin's Conservatory of Music.