Hailed as “the hippest hangout since St. Nicholas Pub” by The Amsterdam News, Marc Cary’s weekly event, The Harlem Sessions, has rapidly become the uptown hang for a host of great musicians. Founded in the Lenox Avenue spot Gin Fizz, the jam is celebrating its second anniversary with a number of special guests from the sessions, whose stage has been graced by the likes of Vijay Iyer, Ben Williams, Bertha Hope , Kebbie Williams, Braxton Cook, Igmar Thomas, Corey Wallace, members of The United Nations Youth Orchestra, and nearly 100 other musicians, poets, and dancers who make up the fabric of NYC’s thriving jazz scene.

Jazz pianist, keyboardist, producer, and composer Marc Cary holds tight to his roots in Washington, D.C.’s go-go music scene, but they represent only one element among the myriad. Cary’s interests run from Indian classical to Malian music to hip-hop. He started his career working with Betty Carter, a legendary vocalist famous for drawing soul and sincerity out of her bands, and went on to work with Roy Hargrove, Dizzy Gillespie, Erykah Badu, Shirley Horn, Stefon Harris, Q-Tip, and–most influential of all–Abbey Lincoln.