28. Stay Surprising

A couple of months ago, I wrote a few words about Mike Casey’s debut album “The sound of Surprise”. Playing on the album is Mike Casey Trio featuring Mike on saxophones, Matt Dwonszyk on acoustic bass, and Corey Garcia on drums.

“Stay Surprising” is a follow-up to Casey’s critically acclaimed 2017 debut. The two albums were recorded the same night at The Side Door in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where Mike and his trio got 14 first takes from one live show. The songs are in the same order they were performed live. After having heard the two albums I’m convinced I missed an opportunity to hear a magical live performance at the Side Door, but I’m thankful they decided to perpetuate the musical moments on this night.

I absolutely love the bass play on track six “Nature Boy Intro” – a great intro to a great song. The amusing twists and turns on track two “West End” also makes the drumming worth special mention.

Rumor has it Mike will be studying in Europe from September on, so I hope we get to hear his trio play on some of our Norwegian jazz scenes in the near future.

Stay Surprising – words of wisdom in music and in life!