Tenor saxist Mike Casey shows here on this (mostly) trio album with drummer Corey Garcia and bassist Matt Dwonszyk that he’s imbibed heavily from the waters of John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, ranging between the clarion calls of the former and the muscular hard bop of the latter.
There are a handful of tunes that include pianist Benito Gonzales, with Casey at his Traniest on the rubato “No Church In The Wild Intro) ” or searing through Dwonszyk’s pulse on it’s radio edit. In fact Dwonszyk is a major player here, giving a strum to the bluesy drudge on “Best Part (Take 3)” and yearning with Casey on “Dagobah”. A take of the standard “Unforgettable” has soft hints of various other ballads, such as “Tenderly” while the team gets dark and funky on “Feel The Bern”. Garcia snaps everyone to attention on “Shift” and propels through the rapids on “Spoon”. Muscles get flexed!