2010-05-13
Riff Tides Review by Doug Ramsey
power and excitement... an all-out high-speed post-bop romp
Marc Cary Focus Trio, Live 2009 (Motéma). Cary's lyricism alleviates a tendency toward McCoy Tyner density that over the course of several pieces can accumulate discomfiting weight. The 42-year-old pianist's third album with bassist David Ewell and drummer Sameer Gupta achieves reasonable balance between both aspects. The three have developed rapport that generates excitement in nearly every track, including a treatment of "'Round Midnight" founded on a bass ostinato that persists throughout. As elements of their message, "Runnin' Out of Time" and "Slow Blues for MLK" incorporate audio clips of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. "Just in Time" is an all-out high-speed post-bop romp. In Jackie McLean's "Minor March," the trio eases out of a drum-heavy section into concluding passages in which Cary lightens his touch and executes fleet lines that levitate above the rhythm. It is a moment of relief from the power that characterizes most of the CD. It is fair to point out that the audiences at several concerts where the tracks were recorded make it known that they heartily approve that power and excitement.
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A high-energy, live acoustic album featuring the fiery dynamics of Cary's FOCUS trio. |  listen
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Sameer Gupta on drums & tablas, David Ewell: Bass | listen
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