The most memorable and unusual quality that pianist
Marc Cary's release has are the complex rhythms (sometimes two or three at once) on some of the selections. Otherwise, this is essentially a modern hard bop album with fine solos from trumpeter
Terell Stafford (formerly with
Bobby Watson), tenor saxophonist
Ron Blake (associated with
Roy Hargrove),
Cary and occasionally flutist Yarbrough Charles Laws. With the exception of a song apiece by Laws, Parson,
Blake and
Abbey Lincoln ("Throw It Away"), all of the selections are by
Marc Cary, who is best known for his important stints with
Betty Carter,
Art Taylor,
Roy Hargrove and
Abbey Lincoln. While some of the songs swing conventionally (including such attractive originals as "Mr. Lucky" and "Conditional Statement"), it is the offbeat tunes, such as "New Blues" (on which the melody statement by the horns seems almost rhythmically independent from the rhythm section), the
Ahmad Jamal-like groove of "Throw It Away" and the rapid "Fallacy," that stick in one's mind afterwards. A fine outing. ~ Scott Yanow