Mike Casey: Valencia

Saxophonist Mike Casey won a few hearts and minds among AAJ readers in 2017 with his Take Five profile, which we published round about the time of the self-release of his debut album, The Sound Of Surprise: Live At The Side Door. Refreshingly happy to express an opinion, Casey slammed jazz festivals for their short-term "band aid" policy of bringing in rock and pop acts to bolster income, rather than investing instead in the sort of outreach activity that would nurture the long-term growth of the jazz audience. "When a jazz festival books Slayer for example," said Casey, "I have a hard time believing that those fans coming for Slayer are going to stay for the rest of the festival and actually check out the jazz groups."

Casey also took issue with jazz festivals for their similarly short-term fixation with "tribute" programming. "Lee Morgan is definitely coming from Clifford Brown artistically," said Casey, "but when he was active, he wasn't doing Brownie tributes—because he was busy being Lee Morgan and the industry supported him in that. If we want this genre to keep growing and not be looked at by the general public as museum music, we need to kick the tribute albums and shows and invest in developing living artists."

The year after releasing The Sound Of Surprise—the title referencing the New Yorker's critic Whitney Balliett's elegantly written 1960 collection of jazz criticism—Casey signed up to Berklee's overseas college in Valencia, Spain to take his Master's in Contemporary Performance & Music Production. He spent much of 2018 and 2019 in Valencia, and recorded Valencia at Berklee's on-campus Jazztone Studio there, in a string of sessions with a select cast of fellow students in various lineups.

Five years down the line, Valencia gets vinyl release. Despite the variety of lineups (see Additional Instrumentation below), it is a remarkably cohesive album, held together by Casey's gritty writing and assertive tenor sound. The tunes reflect the location in which they were composed and recorded, with infusions of musics from various Spanish-speaking countries. One of the highlights is "Universal Gratitude," which features harpist Eve Matin, brought up in Peru by Persian parents and with a singular style. (It is worth checking Matin out on YouTube). The track also includes some gutsy cajon and percussion work from Xerach Peñate Santana.

Another highlight is "Ghazal" (check the YouTube below), the album's tour de force, which reflects the lasting influence of Arabic culture on Iberian music. Speaking to AAJ in 2017, Casey said he was aiming for a tenor sound that was "crisp" on the outside and "warm" on the inside. By the time he got to Valencia, he had that down and no mistake.

Three fusion-orientated tracks featuring electric guitarist Sam Borrello may not be to everybody's taste, but even here Casey's distinctive approach corrals them into line with the rest of the disc. Going forward, Casey is going to be a name to look out for. Ole!