Event details

As the headliner of Jazz Festival 2026, Jazz at Princeton present the Creative Large Ensemble, directed by Todd Bashore. With special guest, alto saxophonist Gary Bartz. This concert is presented with support from the Department of African American Studies.

To learn more about the full Jazz Festival 2026 and the performances taking place starting at 1PM, click here.

Ticketing

$16 General | $6 Student

Passport to the Arts Eligible

* Faculty and Staff only: In addition to two (2) free tickets, all university Faculty and Staff can also purchase additional tickets at a price point of $6 per ticket. To reserve tickets, please visit the Princeton University ticketing site and log in using your Princeton ID.

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Past Creative Large Ensemble performance

Program

TBA

Performers

Princeton University Creative Large Ensemble, Conducted by Todd Bashore

With special guest, alto saxophonist Gary Bartz.

Gary Bartz

NEA Jazz Master Gary Bartz has been one of the best purveyors of what he calls “informal composition” (as opposed to improvisation) on alto saxophone since the 1960s, working with such luminaries as Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, and Miles Davis. He has released more than 45 solo albums and appears on more than 200 as a guest artist, as well as working with some of the up-and-coming artists in jazz today, such as Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge for their Jazz Is Dead series and the jazz-funk band Maisha.

Bartz was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to nightclub-owning parents and was exposed to many great jazz artists who played at their club. He was 6 when he was inspired by the sound of Charlie Parker, and received his first alto saxophone at the age of 11. He attended the Juilliard School in New York City in 1958. He joined the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop from 1962 to 1964, meeting jazz giants Eric Dolphy and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He also began working with the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln group in 1964.

In 1965, Bartz was recruited into Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers while they played at his parents’ club, taking John Gilmore’s position in the band. He made his recording debut with Blakey on Soulfingerthat same year.

In 1970, Miles Davis asked Bartz to join his band and perform at the historic Isle of Wight Festival and his subsequent tour. Bartz is featured on Davis’ Live/Evil recording. Bartz also formed his own group, NTU Troop, named for the Bantu word for “essence.” The group blended soul, funk, African folk music, hard bop, and avant-garde jazz and recorded one of Bartz’s first classics, I’ve Known Rivers and Other Bodies, based on the poetry of Langston Hughes. His NTU Troop recordings are often sampled by hip-hop artists.

In 1997, he was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance for his work on Roy Hargrove’s Habana album, and, in 2005, he received a Grammy Award for his work as a sideman on McCoy Tyner's recording Illuminations. In 2015, Bartz received the BNY Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award that honors jazz musicians from the mid-Atlantic region who have achieved distinction in performance and education.

In 2019, producer Gilles Peterson invited Bartz to play the We Out Here festival with the London-based group Maisha, a move that proved so successful that Bartz played dates with them throughout Europe and cut an album with them in the Netherlands.

Since 2001, Bartz has been a professor of saxophone and jazz performance at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Bartz focuses his teaching on finding new ways for his students to "open their ears" and presses his Oberlin students to truly hear the music they think they know so well.

Todd Bashore

Originally from Durham, NC, Todd Bashore has been a highly acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and arranger in the New York City area for more than 30 years. His work as a performer and arranger has been featured on recordings nominated for GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY awards 14 times, including 7 wins.

Todd has performed and recorded with ensembles led by jazz luminaries such as Christian McBride, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Charles Tolliver, Roland Hanna, Orrin Evans, and David Berger, among many others. His contributions also extend to collaborations with Latin jazz icons including Chico O’Farrill, Arturo O’Farrill, Bebo Valdéz, Emilio Solla, Doug Beavers, and Bobby Sanabria. Beyond the jazz world, Todd’s versatility has led to performances with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Max Weinberg, matchbox twenty, Usher, Demi Lovato, Brittany Howard, and Yolanda Adams. He has also performed on Broadway and appeared in television productions including Sex and the City and The Get Down.

As a composer and arranger, Todd has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Captain Black Big Band, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Duke University, the University of Denver, Temple University, the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, CTI Records, and numerous other ensembles across the New York City and Philadelphia areas. He has written more than 45 saxophone arrangements for Vandoren.

Equally active as an educator, Todd has presented clinics and masterclasses worldwide, and has taught at Princeton University, Temple University, Queens College, The New School, and Rutgers University. Recent recordings include the 2024 GRAMMY-nominated album “Walk a Mile in My Shoe” by Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band, and 2025 releases “Live in Johannesburg” by NYO Jazz, “For Dinah” by Ledisi, and 2025 GRAMMY-nominee “Without Further Ado, Vol. 1″ by the Christian McBride Big Band featuring Sting, Andy Summers, Samara Joy, and others.

Todd serves on the jazz faculties at both Princeton University and Temple University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Duke University and a Master of Arts in Jazz Performance from Queens College. He is a Yanagisawa and Vandoren performing artist.

About Jazz at Princeton University

JAZZ AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY serves to promote this uniquely American music as a contemporary and relevant art form. Its goals are to convey the vast musical and social history of jazz, establish a strong theoretical and stylistic foundation with regard to improvisation and composition, and emphasize the development of individual expression and creativity. Offerings of this program include academic course work, performing ensembles, master classes, private study, and independent projects. Jazz at Princeton University thanks you for joining them on this evening’s journey of beauty, exploration, discovery, and hope.