There’s a quiet electricity in moments that weren’t meant to last — the kind of creative urgency that happens when a band knows it’s playing together for the last time, at least for a while. For saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Mike Casey, that energy pulses through every note of his forthcoming album, out October 20.
“Listening back now, there is definitely an urgency in the music,” Casey reflects. “It feels like maybe we subconsciously knew it might have been the last time we were going to play together regularly, since I was moving to Los Angeles about a month later.”
That urgency, however, doesn’t translate as desperation — it becomes something more like catharsis. The record, drawn from a TV taping and studio sessions at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, captures a trio pushing itself to the edge, chasing the spontaneous magic that only live music can offer.
“I’m very proud of how much we’ve grown together over the years,” Casey continues. “We’ve developed a lot of trust as a band. I emerged from COVID with about 20 new compositions I was trying to record. Some we got at this TV taping, others a few days later in the studio. Coming back ‘cold’ with so much new music to learn was quite the thrilling challenge — especially since all three of us were actually recovering from COVID about a month prior.”
That shared vulnerability, paired with years of mutual intuition, makes this album more than a collection of tracks — it’s a living document of resilience and rediscovery. It’s the sound of musicians shaking off silence and finding their way back to each other, one improvisation at a time.
Stay tuned for the official Vevo premiere of the focus track “Faith” on release day — a piece that embodies everything Casey’s music stands for: urgency, hope, and the belief that even after the stillness, something beautiful always rises.
“Listening back now, there is definitely an urgency in the music, it feels like maybe we subconsciously felt that it might have been the last time we were going to play together, at least regularly, for a while, since I was moving to Los Angeles about one month later”, says Casey.
“I’m very proud of how much we’ve grown together over the years – we’ve developed a lot of trust together as a band. I emerged from covid with about 20 new compositions I was trying to record. Some we got at this TV taping, others we got days later at Firehouse 12 studio in New Haven which will be released at a later time. In any case, to come back “cold” with so much new music to learn was quite the thrilling challenge for all of us” especially since all 3 of us were actually recovering from covid about a month prior.”
