Tiny pin-lights adorn the steep narrow staircase ascending to the top, where a young lady sits, politely greeting and taking cash ($10). As one pays, a thick black curtain blocks the view from the inside, although the enticing music, cheerful chatter and clinking glasses can be heard, which only peaks your anticipation of getting behind that curtain.
Suddenly, you are in and the place is all abuzz. The music is swinging with a hip funkness of jazz entanglement. You have stepped into the Gin Fizz Lounge (308 Lenox Ave.). Every Thursday night, beginning at 10 p.m., the pianist, bandleader and composer Marc Cary leads the house band through an exploration of his “Harlem Sessions.”
During these weekly sessions, the cozy, dimly lit lounge overflows. The choice seats surrounding the stage are the first to go, followed by the bar seats, where a few may be noticed smoking from a hookah. The age range is 20 and up, dressed in jeans and high-end sneakers, to suits and ties, and five-inch heels with miniskirts.
During a recent interview, Cary, who was influenced by the pianists Randy Weston and McCoy Tyner, explained his “Harlem Sessions” concept. “I didn’t want to teach in a university because I’m looking for students who want to learn outside the box,” said Cary. “This gives me the opportunity to bring people together and teach them how to be in an ensemble, not just solo.”
Last week, Cary and the ensemble took off on an African swing, based on the rhythms of the Gnawa musicians of Morocco, with whom he had the pleasure of playing.
“It’s an ensemble session,” said Cary. “We include people that want to involve themselves in the ensemble. We focus on a repertoire that becomes orchestrated and develop harmony as we interpret the music. We are creating a movement. Everybody comes with new concepts (poets, dancers, singers, comedians). We are all leaders without egos. If you have an ego on stage, it knocks out the creativity.”
Some of the resident artists include the alto saxophonist Mike Casey, the vocalists Tevri Doris and Charles Turner, the bassists Rashaan Carter and Tarus Mauteen and the drummers Russell Carter and Sameree Gupta.
“We rehearse every Thursday live,” Cary continued. “I like to arrange on the spot, so everyone rolls with the flow. We are building an intuitive ensemble with real conversation. This is not a hip-hop or R&B session. Song menus are placed on Facebook so those attending will have an idea of the evening’s focus. We are developing the great ‘Black American Songbook,’ which is the spectrum of Black music.” The repertoire ranges from Aretha Franklin to Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers and Horace Silver.
Sometimes the room seems top heavy with musicians. During the legendary days of Minton’s Playhouse, the pianist Mary Lou Williams observed, “There were more musicians on line waiting to get in Minton’s than regular folks.” Cary’s sessions are the hippest hangout since St. Nicholas Pub.
Cary, a native of Washington, D.C., grew up playing go-go music and later moved to Harlem, where he played with Betty Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie McLean, David Murray, Carmen McRae and Meshell Ndegeocello. The arranger and composer was nominated as Downbeat’s Rising Star/Keyboards in 2014.
“In the spirit of all the creativity that came before us here in Harlem, we want to create new standards as a community,” stated Cary.
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians was founded in 1965, in Chicago, by the pianist-composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall and composer Phil Cohran.
Last week, as the nonprofit organization celebrated its 50th anniversary under the auspices of the New York City chapter, the co-founder Abrams offered a champagne toast, saying, “Tonight, we are toasting the work of some of the humanitarian messengers the AACM.”
The reception at the Community Church of New York, 40 E. 35th St., followed a duet performance with Abrams and the multi-reed player Roscoe Mitchell. Their nonstop hour duet was more intense than an all-day Baptist prayer meeting. This spirited improvisational journey was filled with bent notes that raged with such melodic force even the hip-hop kids would back away. This avant-garde music is too gangsta to be sampled. The blazing music denied the recorder of your mind a rewind of those pure authentic notes, but that melodic flow will vibrate in the audience’s veins forever.
These two geniuses sprouted music that grabbed your soul and moved you to shout “Amen!” Like music from the ring house, it left one drained yet grateful for such an outrageous experience. Folks noted that they never heard such notes played on a soprano saxophone until Mitchell hit “Tonight.” The intuitive accompaniment by Abrams’ piercing keys cleansed the soul. After the performance, Mitchell said to me, “I need to practice more.”
Abrams and Mitchell have set the bar for the remainder of the celebration that will continue for the duration of October on consecutive Fridays. However, there is no doubt the upcoming musicians will continue on this exhilarating journey. Oct. 16, Thurman Barker’s Quintet will perform the drummer and leader’s music, featuring the guitarist James Emery, the multi-reed player J.D. Parran, the pianist Noah Barker and the bassist Dean Torrey.
They will be followed by Wadada Leo Smith’s Sextet. The trumpeter-composer Smith will perform his original music, along with the vibraphonist Bobby Naughton, the pianist Yuko Fujiyama, the bass violinist Brad Jones, the percussionist Reggie Nicholson and the drummer Thurman Barker. Smith was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform 2012).
Oct. 23 will feature Steve and Iqua Colson (“40 Years in the Moment”) plus George Lewis (“Impromptus”).
For a complete schedule, visit aacm.org. General admission is $30. Senior citizens pay $15. All concerts will be held at the Community Church.