As part of Jazz Dispensary's ongoing 10th anniversary celebration, Gary Bartz NTU Troop's I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies returns on November 13 in a new edition from the acclaimed Top Shelf series. Originally released on Prestige Records and recorded live at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival, the album captures Bartz and his ensemble stretching out across more than 70 minutes of searching, groove-heavy jazz.
The landmark album returns to vinyl for the first time in more than 50 years as a 2-LP set. As with every Top Shelf title, the release features all-analog (AAA) mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, 180-gram vinyl pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and deluxe packaging in a gatefold tip-on jacket.
The album will also be available digitally and in hi-res, with the newly remastered title track, "I've Known Rivers," available to stream today.
LIVE AT MONTREUX
By 1973, Gary Bartz had already established himself as one of the most adventurous saxophonists of his generation. Following work with artists including Max Roach, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis, Bartz formed the NTU Troop, forging a group which channeled jazz, funk, spirituality, and African diasporic influences into a musical vision that was unmistakably their own.
Recorded at Switzerland's famed Montreux Jazz Festival, I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies finds Bartz on saxophone and vocals alongside pianist Hubert Eaves, bassist Stafford James, and drummer Howard King. Across more than seventy minutes of music, the quartet moves from deep grooves into wide-open improvisation, creating a performance that remains as powerful today as it was on stage.
Released during one of the most creative periods of Bartz's career, the album has become a favorite among collectors and spiritual jazz devotees, and it's not hard to hear why.
A SPIRITUAL JAZZ LANDMARK
At the heart of the album is Bartz's ability to balance the searching and the seriously funky. The performances draw from the spiritual jazz movement of the era while embracing elements of funk, post-bop, modal jazz, poetry, and more.
Nowhere is that combination clearer than on “I've Known Rivers.” The title track draws on Langston Hughes' iconic poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." Supported by Eaves, James, and King, Bartz delivers a stirring vocal performance that remains among the most memorable recordings in his catalog.
Throughout the set, their chemistry between the quartet is unmistakable: Eaves' acoustic and electric piano work shifts between atmosphere and groove, while James and King keep things grounded even as the music heads further out.
LISTENING NOTES
“Nommo – The Majick Song” — A spiritual invocation that drops you straight into NTU Troop’s world of searching jazz, deep funk, and Black consciousness.
“Jujuman” — At more than ten minutes, one of the set’s extended performances and plenty of room for the ensemble to stretch out.
“I’ve Known Rivers” — The centerpiece: Bartz draws on Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” bringing poetry, vocals, and jazz together in one of the album’s defining performances.
“The Warriors’ Song” — An NTU Troop staple dedicated to Malcolm X and John Coltrane, revisited here on the Montreux stage.
“Uhuru Sasa” — Meaning “freedom now” in Swahili, Bartz’s Vietnam-era protest song brings NTU Troop’s political voice to the Montreux stage.
STILL FLOWING
More than five decades after it was recorded, I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies remains a sought-after document of 1970s spiritual jazz and a standout entry in Bartz's Prestige catalog.
Now, with its first vinyl pressing in more than half a century, this new Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf edition offers listeners the opportunity to experience one of Gary Bartz's most celebrated live recordings in its finest form yet.
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