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Todd Marcus is a Baltimore-based jazz artist, composer, arranger, and bandleader who exclusively plays the bass clarinet, an instrument that, despite the efforts of Eric Dolphy and David Murray, is usually still a second or third instrument for a saxophonist. As a sideman Marcus has worked with jazz greats Gary Bartz, Larry Willis, and Don Byron. For his fifth album as a leader he presents his “jazz orchestra,” a nonet of Baltimore area and international players performing Marcus’ compositions inspired by several trips to his father’s homeland of Egypt. Even though the orchestra has nine pieces, Marcus’ creative arrangements makes the group seem larger. Highlights include the energetic “Horus,” fueled by a Middle Eastern-flavored vamp with fiery solos by Marcus and trumpeter Alex Norris; the adventurous “Cairo Street Ride,” which recreates a taxi cab trip Marcus experienced in Egypt’s largest city, with impressive solos by bassist Jeff Reed and tenor saxophonist Greg Tardy; and “Final Days” a ballad inspired by Marcus’ last visit to the house where he grew up after his father’s passing. Because In the Valley was recorded before the pandemic, in June of 2019, it makes me eager to hear what Marcus is doing now.
By Greg Turner
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