Marc Cary has gained a reputation as one of the most creative pianists of our time, a bandleader with musical interests that encompass jazz, go-go, hip-hop, electronic music, Indian classical music and more. But Cary is also an incisive and sought-after accompanist, a fact famously borne out by his 12-year tenure (beginning in 1994) with the great vocalist, songwriter and jazz icon Abbey Lincoln.
For the Love of Abbey (Motema Music), Cary’s first solo piano recording, is the most personal and heartfelt of tributes, shedding light on Lincoln’s remarkable body of work and honoring her extraordinary gift for melody and song craft.
“Abbey’s compositions are worthy of an instrumental approach because they’re so rich and lend themselves to be interpreted as instrumentals,” says Cary in a news release.
Cary’s tenure with Lincoln was longer than that of any other pianist. And Cary was following in the footsteps of the very best: Mal Waldron, Hank Jones, Wynton Kelly and Kenny Barron, among others.
“I try not to freak myself out by saying, ‘Wow, now I’m the one,'” Cary reflects. “It made me feel good but it didn’t influence me in any way, because Abbey wanted something new, something in the moment.”
Even when paring down to solo piano on For the Love of Abbey, Cary makes music of great orchestrational variety and depth. Still, he heeds the wisdom of Lincoln herself, who would often admonish him with the words: “It’s a simple song.” As Cary says, “With Abbey I had to play differently than I did. It changed my whole perspective. I learned how to deconstruct myself.”
Asked for the single most valuable lesson he got from Abbey Lincoln, Cary responds: “Learning how to shed things you don’t need, and claim what is yours.”
How do you bring attention to the compositional genius of a jazz artist, who, though internationally beloved by colleagues as one of the greatest baritone saxophonists to ever live, has been marginalized by history books and ignored as a composer? That, in sum, presents the quixotic challenge taken on by Gary Carner with his digital box set, JOY ROAD: The Complete Works of Pepper Adams (Volumes 1-5), available now from Motéma Music, and his exhaustively researched book, Pepper Adams’ Joy Road: An Annotated Discography, out simultaneously from Scarecrow Press.
In connection with these two grand undertakings, Motéma will also release two physical CDs: a stand-alone version of Volume 5, I Carry Your Heart: Alexis Cole Sings Pepper Adams, singled out because it documents the first-ever versions of Adams’ music to be paired with lyrics; and the JOY ROAD SAMPLER, a CD of highlights from the digital box set that shall be made available in stores and online.
Via Carner’s new literary and musical JOY ROAD offerings, the world will get a fresh and unbridled take on this musical giant. Pepper Adams (1930-1986) “was loved by everyone in the industry,” says Carner, a noted jazz historian, as well as the owner of the gourmet wine brokerage, Sommelier Direct, LLC in a news release. “The fact that he allowed me into his confidence back in the 1980’s,” says Carner, “opened my entire life, my entire world into the jazz community.” After meeting in 1984, the two became close friends, with Carner doing extensive interviews to help Adams write his autobiography. Sadly, in 1986, Adams was cut down in his prime by cancer. In the wake of his loss, Carner’s literary intentions were forced to take a turn, resulting in the annotated discography eventually released by Scarecrow this August, as well as a full-length biography that is still in the works.
“Days before Adams died,” Carner explains, “pianist Tommy Flanagan, Pepper’s closest friend, was by his bedside. He later told me that Pepper weakly motioned toward my unfinished manuscript on thenightstand, as if to say ‘please make sure my legacy gets out there.’ When I heard that story,” Carner continues, “I knew I had to finish this work. The guy was an absolute genius as a musician, as a stylist, and as a composer… incredible! I needed to let the world know about those three things, especially the compositions.”
Now, 28 years after meeting Adams, Carner’s labor of love is complete. But what about the amazing Pepper compositions that Carner discovered along the way, mostly on out-of-print discs? The only way to introduce the world to all 43 tunes as a collection would be to produce contemporary recordings of the Adams songbook — a passionate undertaking, to say the least.
Carner chose to highlight the versatility of Adams’ compositions by placing the music in different settings. He engaged Chicago pianist Jeremy Kahn to record Volume 1 in a trio format. Next, Carner tapped the fine Atlanta-based pianist Kevin Bales to assemble a quartet for Volume 2 with guitarist Barry Greene featured. New York based baritone sax man, Frank Basile, presides over a sextet for Volume 3; and for Volume 4, Carner brought Kahn back with his trio and special guest, Gary Smulyan, who is Adams’ chief acolyte and was just voted Baritone Saxophonist of the Year for 2012 by the Jazz Journalists Association.
With Volumes 1-4, the 43-composition oeuvre was complete, but Carner had one more mission to fulfill. He had heard of Pepper’s unfulfilled wish to have lyrics set to his seven ballads. So, for the vital fifth volume, Carner engaged poet Barry Wallenstein (one of his literary mentors) to pen original lyrics. Award-winning vocalist and one of five finalists in this year’s Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, Alexis Cole (also a Motéma artist), performs on this session, arranged and led by Jeremy Kahn, with both Eric Alexanderand Pat LaBarbera featured on tenor saxes.
The fifth volume completes Carner’s massive tribute on a highly original note. Resetting Adams’ seven ballads in different tempos and styles, and pairing them with Wallenstein’s richly literary lyrics, serves as an especially fitting tribute to the creative, witty, well-read jazz legend who had named many of his compositions after famous literary works, such as “Lovers of Their Time”. The songs also add seven luscious new additions to the vocal jazz canon.
Carner’s historically detailed liner notes provide important career facts about the barigiant, who played with virtually every major jazz legend. There are also amusing anecdotes about the genesis of each song in the collection. The JOY ROAD SAMPLER includes an abridged version of the notes from the Complete Works set.
To launch his new book and music offerings, Carner has collaborated with Motéma to co-opt his regularly scheduled Sommelier Direct fall wine sales route, and turn it into a 30-city JOY ROAD release tour, in which he will preside over book and CD signings; emcee live music performances of Pepper’s music; do radio publicity stops; and give college lectures… with wine tastings all along the way!
Live music highlights on the tour include: Jeremy Kahn performing Pepper Adams at The Chicago Jazz Festival (Sept. 2); the star-studded PEPPER ADAMS JOY ROAD CELEBRATION NYC (Sept. 24 -30); an Adams’ birthday celebration led by Pat LaBarbera in Toronto (10/6), and a Pepper Adams week in Los Angeles featuring Gary Smulyan, Dale Fielder, and Eric Reed.
The New York City week is the most lavish. It kicks off with special big-band charts which will honor Pepper Adams, performed by the Grammy-winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (in which Adams once held the baritone chair); there is an Alexis Cole CD release at Smoke (Sept. 26); a spectacular performance dubbed “The Three Baris” at Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem (Sept. 29) – The Three Baris are: Frank Basile, Ronnie Cuber, and Gary Smulyan. They will be backed by famed Pepper Adams’ collaborators, George Mraz (bass), Don Friedman (piano) and Kenny Washington (drums). And, to top off the Pepper feast, Birdland Jazz Club will present new Bevan Manson string quartet arrangements of Adams’ ballads; a tribute to Pepper by world renowned composer David Amram; and on that double-billed evening, a special feature with Arturo O’Farrill and Lew Tabackin.
Marc Cary has gained a reputation as one of the most creative pianists of our time, a bandleader with musical interests that encompass jazz, go-go, hip-hop, electronic music, Indian classical music and more. But Cary is also an incisive and sought-after accompanist, a fact famously borne out by his 12-year tenure (beginning in 1994) with the great vocalist, songwriter and jazz icon Abbey Lincoln.
“Days before Adams died,” Carner explains, “pianist Tommy Flanagan, Pepper’s closest friend, was by his bedside. He later told me that Pepper weakly motioned toward my unfinished manuscript on thenightstand, as if to say ‘please make sure my legacy gets out there.’ When I heard that story,” Carner continues, “I knew I had to finish this work. The guy was an absolute genius as a musician, as a stylist, and as a composer… incredible! I needed to let the world know about those three things, especially the compositions.”
To launch his new book and music offerings, Carner has collaborated with Motéma to co-opt his regularly scheduled Sommelier Direct fall wine sales route, and turn it into a 30-city JOY ROAD release tour, in which he will preside over book and CD signings; emcee live music performances of Pepper’s music; do radio publicity stops; and give college lectures… with wine tastings all along the way!