T.S.N (Kofi Hunter, Melanie Charles, Paul Wilson, Irwin Hall, Cinque Kemp, and Parker McAllister) with Ignabu

Marc Cary

DJ P.U.D.G.E

In a jazz world brimming with brilliant and adventurous pianists, Marc Cary stands apart by way of pedigree and design as one of New York’s best jazz pianists. None of his prestigious peer group ever set the groove behind the drums in Washington DC go-go bands nor are any others graduates of both Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln's daunting bandstand academies. Cary hails from a musically literate family--his mother is a cellist; his great grandmother was an ivory-tickler in silent movie houses back in that day who also rocked barrelhouse and stride duets with Eubie Blake. Ellington trumpeter Cootie Williams was a cousin of Cary's grandfather.

As New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen observed recently, “There isn’t much in the modern-jazz-musician tool kit that Marc Cary hasn’t mastered, but he has a particular subspecialty in the area of groove…with a range of rhythmic strategies, from a deep-house pulse to a swinging churn.” Mr. Cary richly embodies the spirit of diverse streams that feed into the ample body of what we consider jazz history today.

“The main thing is the intention behind what you say musically; \\\\\[that’s\\\\\] the beauty. If you’re thinking something and you hit that note, the resonance of what you’re thinking actually goes through that note. It’s like a telephone frequency carrying your voice--literally. That’s the power.” – Marc Cary

ignabu (cinque ubangi kemp); a drummer/multi-instrumentalist, producer, musical director, educator, lover, feeler, and thinker relentlessly devoted to the elevation of human vibrations and consciousness. Based in NYC, he’s performed/toured/produced his own compositions as well as with Soundtrack 63, Macklemore, Flatbush ZOMBiES, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, James Corden's Late Late Show, Melanie Charles, Broad City, Pegasus Warning (w/The Temper Trap, w/Twin Shadow), Arto Lindsay, Ana Tijoux, Yonatan Gat, Jojo Abot, Donchristian Jones, Young Paris, The Young Presidents, Hannah Cohen (w/Paul Weller), Nick Hakim, and Joakim Bouaziz among sundry creative endeavors.