Much excitement surrounds JID 006, another new studio album (following on from last year's acclaimed Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions with Maisha) by octogenarian saxophonist Gary Bartz, whose late-life career has morphed and flourished thanks to such UK-based champions as Gilles Peterson and the production duo of A Tribe Called Quest DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammed and the hip hop composer/producer Adrian Younge. It's on their Jazz Is Dead label that the much-sampled Bartz releases this new eight-track collection, having featured on last year's inaugural Jazz Is Dead 001 alongside other living legends including Roy Ayers and Marcos Valle, all of whom subsequently released studio albums in collaboration with Muhammed and Younge.

But while JID006 showcases Bartz's mighty chops more extensively than the Maisha collaboration, this is still very much a collaborative project. Tracks like ‘Black and Brown’ and ‘Distant Modes’ – which featured on 001 – were entirely composed by Bartz and the Midnight Hour duo, whose go-to blend of vibraphone, electric bass and analogue keys lay down a bubbling groove over which Bartz's alto dances and soars. There are echoes of electric-era Miles on the bass-driven, modal ‘The Message’ (the only track to feature Bartz on tenor), which zaps with energy, while lead single ‘Spiritual Ideation’ is all coiled, moody cool. But it's ‘Day By Day’, with its neo-soul leanings and surprise vocal chorus, which really shines.

Jazzwise talks to Gary Bartz about his new album

How important is embracing the times when creating music?

Whatever music I may be studying, I try to find a way to incorporate my thoughts and feelings into the music. It may be something current or something ancient. Great music has no shelf life.

You've been discovered by a younger crowd in the UK …

I think because this music is still being danced to has a lot to do with it. People stopped dancing to certain musicians, because they were virtuosos and it became more exciting to hear them. They were so good people forgot to dance. That didn't happen in the UK.

You worked with Ali and Adrian as part of the Jazz is Dead 001 compilation released last March. Tell us something about it …

I knew about Ali from A Tribe Called Quest, (who I have always loved) and after I met them and saw their studio, which is completely analog, I knew I was in the right place.

How did you prepare for working with Ali and Adrian on 006?

Because we didn't have much time, it was spontaneous, which in a way was like the direct-to-disc with Maisha. I did a few passes and moved on to the next track. The producers took what I recorded and placed it in the mix. The tracks had already been recorded when I got to them. It is a process that I am very familiar with. I think it worked.

How boundary pushing was this work for you? Might you tell us the circumstances of the recording?

At this point I don't find many surprises [and] this is an analogue recording like most of my early recordings. In a way we are looking at the past in order to move forward. Analogue recordings are so much warmer. If they liked what I was doing, we moved on, because I am seldom very happy with what I record.

Did working with Ali and Adrian recall your work with any previous collaborators?

Working with Ali and Adrian was a pleasure because we think alike about many things. It reminded me a bit of working with the great Mizell brothers.

Let's talk about three tracks: ‘Spiritual Ideation’, ‘Black and Brown’ and ‘Distant Mode’. What were the ideas behind each?

‘Spiritual Ideation’ is like a Gospel song for me. My first public solo was in church. ‘Black and Brown’ - to me, this is about motion. I can see dancers from different societies conducting ceremonies with the music and dance. ‘Distant Mode’ is like a song for the technological age. It reminds me of what a symphony orchestra would sound like if they understood the greatest music ever created on this planet.