Marc Cary: Focus Trio (BIO)

Marc Cary

pianist / producer / composer

On this debut recording of his FOCUS Trio, pianist Marc Cary brings into sharp focus his many influences - from deep-feeling indigenous world rhythms to bop to classical lyricism. Cary's imaginative key-work, well known from his gigs with Stefon Harris, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, Roy Hargrove, and Wynton Marsalis, among others, gained him a recent nod from Down Beat as one of the four "most multi-dimensional" keyboard players on the scene today. His new release, FOCUS (June 27 Release, Motema Music) reveals those multi-dimensions in sensual living color.

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Lounging in the Parlor floor of the Langston Hughes house in Harlem, pianist and composer Marc Cary is as cool and collected as they come. The brownstone once inhabited by the renowned poet is currently being transformed into a studio and performance space. Taking his inspiration from Abbey Lincoln, with whom Cary played with for many years, he plans to transform the Parlor level into a refuge for artists and musicians. In the meanwhile the FOCUS Trio featuring Marc Cary will release their debut album, FOCUS, on the Motema label. Cary anticipates it with calm earnestness; "With this trio I'm really trying to focus all energy into swinging and expressing myself in the best way possible."

The FOCUS Trio consists of Sameer Gupta on drums and tabla and David Ewell on bass. The three musicians met about five years ago on the Left coast. Cary was introduced to Sameer Gupta through close associate and jazz impresario Charles Brack, whom Cary met while playing with trumpeter Russell Gunn at the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Marc Cary coming from a traditional jazz background lays the musical foundation, incorporating his Native American roots. However, Gupta and Ewell also season the sonic landscape with their Indian and Chinese roots. Gupta incorporates classical Indian rhythmic and melodic concepts. With David Ewell's bass playing you can hear tonal centers that are based around scales you may hear in traditional Chinese music. The FOCUS project is one that seeks to cross-pollinate.

The attractive part of working with these particular musicians is that they bring something to jazz rather than assimilating into the idiom. Cary doesn't advocate abandoning one's own culture to learn jazz. "To me, if you're going to learn jazz, you should have something to bring. Cats don't think about bringing much, the just want to see what they can get from the music. It's a two way street." For Cary it's the Go-Go contribution he brought to acoustic jazz back in the early 90s.

Cary is more receptive to a trio now in his career because it offers more space and freedom. "The more people you have in an ensemble the more structured it tends to be. The trio just leaves more room for expression for me," Cary explains. Seemingly Cary has a penchant for trios: his Trillium record released in 2000 was a trio setting and was critically acclaimed.

With the FOCUS CD, there are re-imagined musical concepts that Cary revisits. The song "So Gracefully" was recorded in 1995 and included on Cary's debut record, Cary On. A trio as opposed to a septet performs this newly re-recorded version. Although it uses its original, timing, the arrangement is different. "I was able to expand more on the song and express myself differently. It's very reminiscent of one of Coltrane's versions of 'My Favorite Things,'" explains Cary.

There's a reworked version of Jackie McLean's bop classic, "Appointment in Ghana." Cary, an admirer of the late McLean, played with the master alto saxophonist in the past and had anticipated McLean hearing the new version. With re-arrangement of "Appointment in Ghana," Cary sought to do something that reflected the virtuosity of the writing. "When I hear his songs, I hear so many other elements and spaces where I can fit in," notes Cary. "I re-arranged to show the freedom Jackie offers in his compositions." What Cary did was instead of playing the original melody and then improvising, the trio played the first 8 bars of the melody, improvised; played the next 8 bars, improvised; played the melody of the bridge and improvised an finally played the last 8 bars of the melody and finished the piece.

There's a piece on the FOCUS record penned by Gupta entitled "Taiwa." The song pays homage to Moses Taiwa Molelekwa, a young South African pianist and composer who was found murdered in 2001 in his Johannesburg apartment alongside his wife who had also been strangled.

"A Long Walk Home" is a tune that is expressive of the more pensive moments in life. "It's like you had a lot on your mind, you took the long walk home, checked out some other things," notes Cary. This tune was inspired by a particular time where Cary stepped back and evaluated what he wanted to do musically, and what he wanted to record and how he'd present himself next time around. "Often times instead of sitting in the house thinking about what to do, I take a long walk."

Marc Cary stands on an unshakable reputation as pianist dedicated to the craft. The Grammy-nominated pianist possesses an expansive vocabulary. Take the seminal masterwork, Rhodes Ahead Vol 1., released in 2000, is considered by many to be a classic; the Fender Rhodes-laden record signifies 70s free jazz, where the electric piano was oft-times the sonic weapon of choice. 1995's Cary On, 1997's Listen and 1998's The Antidote, have also been each received with critical acclaim.

Cary has played and recorded with an impressive roster of musicians: Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Carter, Arthur Taylor, Abbey Lincoln, Erykah Badu, Jackie McLean, Clifford Jordan, Carmen McCray, Milt Jackson, Curtis Fuller, Eddie Henderson, Arthur Taylor, Frank Foster, Max Roach, Shirley Horn, Ani DiFranco, the list goes on. He is often sought out by Wynton Marsalis, among others, for key accompaniment.

"Listening to us on the FOCUS record is one thing, but seeing us play is another," Cary insists. The live show will expand on the concepts developed since the recording. "The recording is the seed and the performance is when the plant grows."

"The concept of FOCUS Trio is a collaboration of the three cultures," defines Cary as he sits in the afternoon sunlight. "Aside from that, playing our asses off the in the tradition of the great Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Paul Chambers, is the focus."