AVAILABLE NOW:
MARC CARY'S INNOVATIVE FOCUS TRIO RELEASES
LONG ANTICIPATED SECOND STUDIO ALBUM,
FOUR DIRECTIONS, VIA MOTÉMA MUSIC
Focus Trio Features Sameer Gupta on Drums and Tabla,
Rashaan Carter on Bass and Guest Bassist Burniss Travis
Album Follows Up Acclaimed Solo Piano Tribute,
For the Love of Abbey (Motéma, June 2013)
"Marc is a great musician! He's deep in the tradition but at the
same time always forward thinking! He's always who he is...
not what people want him to be..." - Robert Glasper
"The Marc Cary Focus Trio is back, and in a big way..."
"A jazz pianist of broad expertise, especially in the realm of rhythm..."
Marc Cary has spent close to a decade honing a distinctive sound and improvisational approach with his enduring and much acclaimed Focus Trio. Four Directions, the band's first studio recording in eight years, follows on the heels of two powerful interim releases (Focus Trio Live 2008 and Focus Trio Live 2009).
Despite a few shifts in the bass chair, and an ever-transforming array
of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, the band's original mission,
as Cary stated in his liner notes for Focus, the band's 2006
debut, remains the same: "to bring indigenous rhythms together with
American jazz to create new palettes of sound."
On Four Directions, Cary once again leads the boundlessly creative Sameer Gupta on drums and percussion with two new recruits: Burniss Travis and Rashaan Carter
sharing the bass chair, on some tracks alone and on some together.
"Rashaan and I are both from DC," Cary says, "and his father [tenor
saxophonist Russell Carter] gave me my first gig. I wanted both him and
Burniss to be represented on the record because they've both been
playing with the group at different times."
Cary and Gupta are committed students of traditional Indian music but they always bring their own sensibilities to bear. Namaskar,
Gupta's 2010 Motéma release (also featuring Carter on bass), was
co-produced by Cary and featured a diverse cadre of highly celebrated
musicians, combining jazz with North and South Indian ragas and
well-known Bollywood themes.
In
addition to piano, Cary plays the Access Virus TI2 and Novation
UltraNova synthesizers, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer and organ, creating a
sonic environment that reflects his limitless musical interests - from
jazz to go-go, hip-hop, electronic music, Indian classical music and
more. "There's nothing blocking any music coming out of us," Cary
insists. "It's like, melanin is a superconductor, you know? That's how
it's coming out of our fingers and our minds."
It's not uncommon for Cary to build his own instruments to accommodate his needs - on Four Directions,
for example, he customized a MIDI pedal to trigger samples. In a live
setting, he also uses an ultra sonic sensor that transmits the movement
of people in the audience and converts it into MIDI compatible data,
which is later used during the performance. Cary uses a lot of these
ideas and techniques when mixing and mastering his records.
"The things that have kept the Focus Trio concentrated
are basic principles of openness and intent to play like it is our last
chance, every time," notes Cary. "And we keep having these incredible
discoveries, which happen mostly on the bandstand. There's a great
understanding of our love for the music and what we're seeking."
About Marc Cary's Groups:
Born in New York in January
1967, Cary grew up in DC and went on to become an important figure in
the city's burgeoning go-go scene. He attended the Duke Ellington School
of the Arts, and upon relocating to New York in 1988, began his rise as
a jazz piano modernist. In 1994 he began a life-changing 12-year tenure
with vocalist, songwriter and jazz icon Abbey Lincoln. For the Love of Abbey, Cary's spellbinding solo piano tribute to Lincoln, came out in May of 2013 on Motéma.
In 2006, Cary debuted his fledgling Focus Trio
project on the Motéma label, with an eponymous release which received
major critical and public acclaim that led to increased international
touring and a multi-record commitment from Motéma. In addition to his long-standing Focus Trio, Cary also has toured and recorded regularly with his band Indigenous People since 1999.
Cary's
Indigenous project specifically mines the rich musical history of
indigenous cultures around the world with a special focus on music of
the African diaspora - from African folk melodies, Brazilian and
Caribbean grooves to jazz, funk and go-go rhythms. Cary has recently rebilled the group as Cosmic Indigenous
and has a forthcoming Motéma release in the works. Meanwhile, he
continues to work steadily as a producer and collaborator on recorded
and live projects in the jazz, hip-hop, R&B and dance arenas.
| Marc Cary Focus Trio |
Upcoming Marc Cary Appearances:
* indicates solo performance
* October 18 / LA Downtown Piano Festival / Los Angeles, CA
* October 20 / EastSide Cultural Center / Oakland, CA
November 9 / Exit 0 International Jazz Festival / Asbury Park, NJ
November 15 - 16 / Album Release @ Duc Des Lombards / Paris, France
December 4 / Album Release @ Jazz Standard / New York, NY
December 16 / TSF Party/L'Olympia / Paris, France
Marc Cary Focus Trio· Four Directions
Motéma Music · Release Date: October 8, 2013
Marc Cary· For the Love of Abbey
Motéma Music · Release Date: June 11, 2013
For more information on Marc Cary, visit MarcCary.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos and bios)
on all DL Media artists can be found at our new website: dlmediamusic.com
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