Marc Cary

Marc Cary
Cary in 2007 Photo by Jalylah Burrell
Background information
Born	Marc Anthony Cary (1967-01-29) January 29, 1967 (age 58) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Motéma Music
Website	marccary.com

Marc Cary (born January 29, 1967) ^[1] is an American jazz pianist based out of New York City. ^[2] Cary has played and recorded with a number of well-known musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove, Arthur Taylor, Abbey Lincoln, Carlos Garnett, Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, Stefon Harris, Lauryn Hill, Ani DiFranco, Jackie McLean, Q-Tip, and Carmen McRae.

Life and career

Cary grew up playing on the go-go music scene in Washington, D.C. He eventually moved to New York City, and it was through his work with Abbey Lincoln that broad audiences were first introduced to his rhythmic style, which draws on the influence of Randy Weston and McCoy Tyner. ^[3]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Year recorded	Title	Label	Notes
1995	Cary On	Enja	With Roy Hargrove (trumpet), Ron Blake (tenor sax), Dwayne Burno (bass), Dion Parson (drums), Yarborough Charles Laws (flute), Charlene Fitzpatrick (vocals)
1997	Listen	Arabesque	With Billy Johnson (bass), Dion Parson (drums), Yarbrough Charles Laws (flute), Daniel Moreno (percussion), Ron Blake (tenor sax), Terell Stafford (trumpet)
1998	The Anitdote	Arabesque	With Daniel Moreno, Yarbrough Charles Laws (percussion), Ron Blake (sax), John Ormond (bass)
1999?	Captured Live in Brazil	Jazzateria	with Indigenous People
1999	Rhodes Ahead	Jazzateria
1999	Trillium	Jazzateria	With Nasheet Waits and Tarus Mateen
2003?	N.G.G.R. Please	Jazzateria	with Indigenous People
2006	FOCUS	Motéma Music	Trio, with Sameer Gupta and David Ewell
2006?	AbStraKt | BlaK	Motéma Music
2012	For the Love of Abbey	Motéma Music	Solo piano
2013?	Four Directions	Motéma Music	Trio, with Burniss Earl Travis II, Rashaan Carter (bass; separately), Sameer Gupta (drums, tabla)
2015	Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 2	Motéma Music
2018	After the Jam, Volume 1	Independent	Trio, with Dan Chmielinski (bass), Diego Ramirez (drums)

As sideman

With Abbey Lincoln

• Who Used to Dance (Verve/Gitanes Jazz, 1996 [1997])
• Wholly Earth (Verve/Gitanes Jazz, 1998 [1999])

With David Murray

• Be My Monster Love (Motéma, 2013)

With Roy Hargrove

• Of Kindred Souls (Novus/RCA, 1993)

With Art Taylor

• Mr. A.T. (Enja, 1992)

Accolades

• Best New Jazz Artist Award, 2000 – Billboard/BET
• Grammy Award nominations for work with Roy Hargrove, Betty Carter, Stefon Harris, and Abbey Lincoln
• Native American Music Awards nomination, 2003
• One of Downbeat magazine's "25 for the future of Jazz!"
• Downbeat, "Rising Star: Keyboard", 2014

Notes

1. Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN   9780199886401 . Retrieved January 15, 2026– via Google Books.
2. Collar, Matt. "Marc Cary Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic . Retrieved January 16, 2026.
3. Russonello, Giovanni. "Photos | Marc Cary at Bohemian Caverns: Believing in the groove (and out)". www.capitalbop.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2012.