It’s 1970, and saxophonist Gary Bartz forms his Ntu Troop. Named for the Bantu word for
“unity,” this new group extended Bartz’s pioneering “soul-jazz.” Its music was a new kind of
fusion that melded hard bop, soul, funk, free jazz, and Afro-Cuban folk polyrhythms. Its
message was staunchly pro-African and anti-war.
Bartz saw a direct connection between the Vietnam War and American racism, citing a
disproportionate number of Blacks drafted and sent overseas. “Plenty of young Black men are
conscripted to fight for a country that offers them little to no respect on their home soil.” Both
conflicts, each in their way, Bartz said, were exercises in systemic and cultural genocide.
“Just living in this country under a racist system makes me think about it all the time, and you
have to fight it,” said Bartz. “You go other places and you don’t feel it, you don’t see it. It might
be there, and there may be prejudices, but those systems are not built on it. This system is built
on racism and genocide.”
Ntu Troop’s world view, rooted in America’s music – Jazz – opened borders in the mind, and
offered a different way to listen beyond Europe. Looking back at Ntu Troop’s legacy, one
journalist wrote, “What we can discover is how to listen, how to value more than the music of
one country or culture. Current times are such that the message of struggle, love and hope
transcend racial categories. That is both a great testament to the power of this music, as well as
to the dawning fact in this country that we’re all in this together.”
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