Album Review: Ryan Marquez Trio- Moving Forward in Time

It’s difficult to reconcile the conventional new piano trio album Moving Forward in Time with the neo-soul and new-school jazz that’s featured on the self help-themed Conscious Listening podcast.  Yet Ryan Marquez, a St. Louis based artist who was born and raised in the Kansas City area, is responsible for both projects.

Marquez left Kansas City after graduating from high school in 2005.  He plays a homecoming concert with his trio at Corbin Theater on Saturday, July 21.

Marquez favors groove-oriented, plugged-in artists like Thundercat on his Conscious Listening show.  The comparatively buttoned-down jazz the pianist makes with bassist Ben Wheeler and drummer Steve Davis doesn’t fit the format.  It may not be progressive, but Moving Forward in Time isn’t square.

A reworking of “Moment’s Notice” titled “Notice Moments” is particularly hip.  Interpretations of hits by Bill Withers and Michael Jackson serve as inviting points of entry.  Original material like “Peace March,” a composition inspired by the 2017 Women’s March in St. Louis, possesses a sense of defiant optimism.  Marquez, Wheeler and Davis discuss the album  in a two-minute promotional video.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)