Marc Cary | Focus Trio Live 2009 (Avail Now)
Motéma Music presents MARC CARY FOCUS TRIO Live 2009
Click Here to get Free Track Download Called “Attachment” from Marc Cary’s “Focus Trio Live 2009”
Hailed by Down Beat as one of the most, “multi-dimensional keyboard
players on the scene today,” whose music reveals those multi-dimensions
in sensual living color, Marc Cary’s continual search for his musical
identity has brought him to all corners of the earth, quenching his
thirst to bring forth indigenous musics in all of their forms.
His latest offering on this journey will embark on April 13th, as
Motéma Music releases their third Cary project, Focus Trio Live 2009,
the follow up to his earlier live release, Focus Live 2008. Recorded
live at select festivals across Europe and the US , Focus Trio Live 2009
features Cary ‘s longstanding trio: on tabla and drums, Sameer Gupta
and on bass, David Ewell, both of whom he met on the west coast. With
inimitable style, Cary drives the trio towards hard-hitting turns,
fusing together indigenous East Asian, Indian, African, and
Native-American influences within the African-American blues and jazz
traditions, as only a player with his undeniable talent can manage to do
while simultaneously claiming new virtuosic territory.
The Boston Globe said of the group, “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.”
A member of the High Integrity Band and later
connected with Let Um Play and the Frontline Jazz Ensemble, Cary was
among the pioneers of Washington, D.C.’s infamous “GO-GO” rhythms that
defined that musical scene and are continuously being referenced in
hip-hop and jazz. His family carries a musical tradition: his
great-grandmother played piano at local movie houses, her partner was
Eubie Blake; his mother is a visual artist and father played trumpet. By
18, he found himself playing with the Dizzy Gillespie Youth Ensemble at
Wolf Trap. He has earned four Grammy® nominations for his ensemble
work, most recently in 2009 for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” as a
participant in Stefon Harris ‘ s Blackout. His production work on Q-Tip ‘
s The Renaissance helped earn that disc a nomination for “Best Rap
Album” of 2009. Cary’s seminal masterwork, Rhodes Ahead Vol 1., released
in 2000 and considered by many to be a classic, earned him the first
Annual Billboard/BET “Best New Jazz Artist Award.” His collaborations in
all musical genres across the board include work with Meshell
Ndegeocello, Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Carter, Arthur Taylor, Abbey
Lincoln, Erykah Badu, Max Roach, Shirley Horn, Ani DiFranco, Wynton
Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, among others.
Now, with Focus Trio
Live 2009, Cary returns to a live acoustic setting to showcase a
collection of both standards and original compositions – 11 incendiary
tracks, 10 of which Cary has never recorded. “Minor March,” a Jackie
McLean tune originally featured on Focus 2008, is taken to new
synergistic heights here.
Cary’s series of recordings for the
Motéma label began with his label debut, Focus (2006) and continued with
the digital release of Focus Trio Live 2008 (digitally co-released in
2009 with Marc’s ‘Caryout Productions). In 2011 Cary will return with a
studio project expected to be recorded in Summer/Fall of 2010. In
addition, there are two other exciting Cary Out projects in the works:
Cary Out Productions is planning a collaboration with Motéma to begin a
new digital series, where Marc will release a brand new single every
month on the Motéma website – each single exploring the various areas of
interest in Cary ’s musical journey. The first single will be a brand
new GO-GO track, release date tentatively slated for August. In
addition, coming this Fall, is an Indian music focused project entitled
Namaskar, that is co-produced by Marc with his Focus Trio partner,
Sameer Gupta, and reveals yet another facet of Marc’s multi-dimensions.