Todd Marcus

Todd Marcus
On These Streets (Stricker Street Records)
A review
For the past 20 years, bass clarinetist Todd Marcus, voted a Rising Star in Downbeat magazine’s Annual Critics Poll, has lived and worked in west Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood at the community-based nonprofit Intersections of Change, alongside Reverends Elder C.W. and Amelia Harris. Together, through a variety of “programs that enrich the economic, social, and spiritual lives of those dealing with poverty-related issues,” they’ve helped transform blighted inner-city streets, abandoned buildings, and vacant lots into a once-again vibrant neighborhood.

Galvanized by the unrest following the death of neighborhood resident Freddie Gray while in police custody in 2015, Marcus undertook a musical portrait of Sandtown-Winchester. On These Streets (a Baltimore story)* offers a look at the neighborhood’s gilded past, its recent challenges, and its determined hope for the future. Five of the eight related tracks are preceded by commentary from neighborhood residents, and one is introduced by the sounds of police helicopters and radio. (A ninth track celebrates Marcus’s native New Jersey.)

Marcus’s bio says that he is self-taught in jazz theory and composition. He had a hell of a teacher. His straight-ahead compositions stretch serpentine lines over deep grooves to tell their stories. Marcus demonstrates a soulful command of the famously recalcitrant bass clarinet, and however dark the subject, he maintains a determined optimism. He is joined in his efforts by five sympathetic sidemen: Paul Bollenbeck (guitar), Warren Wolf (vibes, drums), George Colligan (piano), Kris Funn (bass), and Eric Kennedy (drums, vocals).

Among the many highlights are the opener,  “On the Corner,” which documents the comings, goings, and interactions of the neighborhood with a deep groove and a growing urgency. Reflecting the rioting that followed Gray’s death, “Ground Zero (Penn. and North)” opens with a desperate pulse from piano and bass and proceeds to a frantic piano solo from Colligan before Marcus transcends the angst. “An Intersection of Change” offers a statement of commitment, with the vibes shedding grace. “PTSD in the Hood” reflects the hounding reality of poverty in Bollenbeck’s tormented solo, but again finds cause for hope in Marcus’s heliotropic clarinet. The upbeat “Pennsylvania Avenue Hustle” recalls the halcyon days of a thriving, culturally rich black community on the Avenue. “It Still Gets Still” offers a love song to the neighborhood and a fervent vibe solo.

At once a cultural artifact and a call to action, On These Streets testifies to the humanity of an urban population ground down by decades of soul-sapping poverty and government mismanagement, and to its determination to revitalize a once-proud and flourishing neighborhood.

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© 2018 Mel Minter