Marc Cary

An eclectic jazz pianist with a highly personal voice, Marc Cary has taken his post-bop roots into Afro-Cuban, electronic, and groove-oriented directions. During the 1990s he performed with Roy Hargrove, then stepped forward on his own with the 1995 acoustic album Cary On and the 1997 follow-up Listen, both of which demonstrated his command of hard bop. Restless by nature, he broadened his palette on 1998’s The Antidote and 1999’s Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 1, discs that fused modal jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms with funk-driven electronic textures. He pursued those cross-cultural interests further through his Indigenous People ensemble, folding in Latin, African, and Afro-Cuban elements. In 2013 he issued the solo-piano tribute For the Love of Abbey in honor of vocalist Abbey Lincoln; four years later he revisited his synth-and-organ explorations on Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 2, and in 2021 he released Life Lessons.

Born in New York in 1967, Cary was raised in Washington, D.C., by a percussionist father and a mother who played cello and painted. His grandfather, a first cousin of Cootie Williams, performed on trumpet with the latter, while his great-grandmother accompanied silent films on piano. As a youngster he took up cello, trumpet, and drums, then immersed himself in the city’s funk-based go-go scene and left high school early to devote himself to music. At fourteen he entered a drug rehabilitation program, where instructor Eleanor Oxendine mentored him in music literacy and introduced him to Daniel Witt. Witt taught him piano, guided him into jazz, and helped him enroll at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts; Cary later completed both undergraduate and graduate studies.

Relocating to New York City in the late 1980s, he worked with Beaver Harris and Mickey Bass, toured with Arthur Taylor’s Wailers and with vocalist Betty Carter—who became a lasting influence—and joined Roy Hargrove’s band, appearing on the trumpeter’s 1992 album The Vibe and 1994’s Approaching Standards. Also in 1994 he became pianist and arranger for Abbey Lincoln.

Leading his own dates, Cary debuted with 1995’s Cary On, a hard-bop session that included Hargrove along with tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, bassist Dwayne Burno, and drummer Dion Parson. The similarly assured Listen followed in 1997, again featuring Blake and adding trumpeter Terrell Stafford. On 1998’s The Antidote he adopted a bolder Afro-Cuban stance with Blake, percussionist Daniel Moreno, flutist-percussionist Yarbrough Charles Laws, and additional collaborators. The following year he issued the electro-acoustic Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 1 with bassist Taurus Mateen and flutist Laws, and the trio recording Trillium with Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits.

Cary next assembled the Indigenous People ensemble, which merged African folk traditions, Brazilian and Caribbean grooves, and jazz, funk, and go-go rhythms. The group’s first release was the 1999 concert album Captured Live in Brazil; Unite appeared in 2001 and N.G.G.R. Please in 2003. In 2006 he recorded the trio album Focus with bassist David Ewell and drummer Sameer Gupta, and he joined vocalist Shon “Chance” Miller on Abstrakt/Blak, contributing Fender Rhodes and synthesizers to material shaped by jazz, funk, and M-Base sensibilities.

Alongside performing, Cary has taught at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music. In 2010 he issued a live trio recording; three years later came For the Love of Abbey. Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 2 arrived in 2015, extending the sonic explorations of its 1999 predecessor, and 2021’s Life Lessons once more highlighted his affinity for Fender Rhodes, organ, ambient electronica, and synthesizers alongside acoustic piano.