Mike Casey - Valencia (2024) [Hi-Res]

“A lovely jazz performance that soothes the soul”
— 6x NBA champion, basketball legend & jazz fan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“a remarkably cohesive album, held together by Casey’s gritty writing & assertive tenor sound”
— All About Jazz

*1 of 16 in the GRAMMYs "Next" Class of 2023*

Originally his masters thesis while studying at Berklee's selective Valencia Spain campus from 2018-2019 and premiered live at Spain’s national concert hall Auditori Nacional, 'Valencia' - Mike's ninth release since 2017 overall - showcases him moving far beyond the polar opposite sax/bass/drums trio & electronic/hip hop formats that
his stylistically varied output to date have largely oscillated between.

Instead, 'Valencia' opts for an expansive, original, inquisitive sonic view into the self-imposed challenge of mixing disparate influences from styles around the world compositionally without sacrificing the spontaneity or edge of jazz in the performance or sound - or Mike's own voice as an artist, composer, or improviser on the saxophone.

The otherworldly, iconic architecture of The City of Arts & Sciences (as seen on Star Wars, Westworld) within which the songs were composed (and most of them recorded) was a massive influence in his composition process, as was the global nature of the program:
40 different countries were represented in the student body that year.

Calling this album simply "Jazz" would be limiting: it's a forward thinking, multi-genre, multicultural experience created by an artist who is trained in jazz, but who fully absorbed a specific, inspiring environment and period of time abroad into his heart & soul, seeking to unify across geography & genre.

Present on the album are moments of influences from rock (title track), gospel (piano solo on “The Beauty of Everyday Life”), specific Latin rhythms / harmonic devices (i.e. Peruvian Landó and Brazilian-esque harmony on "Universal Gratitude"), classical (time signature shifting of 'Venus'), cinematic movie scores (Intro on 'The Beauty of Everyday Life'), dancehall reggae ('Calle Pizarro'), phrasing concepts from India (i.e. couplet phrasing on 'Ghazal') to name a few.

Singles from the album have had support from the BBC, NPR Jazz Night in America "Best of May", Jazz FM "Track of the Week", All About Jazz "Track of the Day" x2, New Music Friday and more.

Simply put, at this point in Mike's young career, this record is his most ambitious, his magnum opus.

Tracklist:
1-1. Mike Casey - The Beauty of Everyday Life (06:19)
1-2. Mike Casey - Venus (Remastered) (03:48)
1-3. Mike Casey - Ghazal (06:48)
1-4. Mike Casey - Universal Gratitude (05:39)
1-5. Mike Casey - Calle Pizarro (03:49)
1-6. Mike Casey - Valencia (05:30)
1-7. Mike Casey - Universal Gratitude (Reprise) (01:14)