CASEY GOLDEN TRIO – Live At Bennetts Lane
Self Released (available from bandcamp.com)
Casey Golden (piano), Bill Williams (bass), Ed Rodrigues (drums,percussion)
Recorded at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne on July 1st, 2014
Companion release to OUTLIERS (2015)
2015 is proving to be quite the year for the Casey Golden Trio. Live at Bennetts Lane is their second album this year, following the release of Outliers in January. Both albums were recorded during the Australian band’s 2014 Winter Tour.
Having firmly cemented their status as the “it-jazz trio” around the Australian music scene, this new undertaking is nothing short of what we have come to expect from these three talented musicians. Together they have created their very own whimsical musical world, in which elegance is the dictum. The band knows how to ingeniously combine dazzling strokes of creativity with majestic melodies like no other, and the result is out there for the world to witness.
Golden, Williams and Rodrigues are, evidently, a tight-knit assemblage – the cohesion and flow of the sound they craft is more than enough to prove it. Playing together since 2010, the band has been met with popular acclaim, and has been touring around Australia extensively, an aspect which is only crowned with Golden having been a finalist in the jazz category of the APRA Professional Development Awards back in 2013. Being primarily music lovers, and with similar tastes between one another, it is no wonder that their sound is so wholesome and taut. Outliers and Live at Bennetts Lane are prime examples of such. “We’re really proud of the new records because more than anything else, they show our connection as a band”, they acknowledge.
All tracks flow effortlessly, and illustrate a sound expertise that is impossible to replicate. The piano features heavily in all tracks, and is played with a combination of both tenderness and eager innovation. The bass and percussion/drums serve as its faithful companions, and are played with astonishing nimbleness, which only adds to the joy and balance that is so key to the compositions. I, for one, might have wished for more variety, as such is my nature, but the album sounds right the way it is, as if the whole purpose of it was to showcase their mastery in being succinct. There is great skill to be found here – all tracks display a very intelligent approach to writing music, the art of knowing how not to overdo melodies or to clutter works of art. This effort is what characterises the entire album in my opinion, and that which makes it that much more unique.
This is one release I would recommend for those who crave laid-back, beautiful jazz tunes at the end of an exhausting day at work. It delivers just the right amount of zing to accompany a relaxed evening, and leaves you feeling refreshed and eager for what is to come from these musicians.
Reviewed by Francisca Pereira
Self Released (available from bandcamp.com)
Casey Golden (piano), Bill Williams (bass), Ed Rodrigues (drums,percussion)
Recorded at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne on July 1st, 2014
Companion release to OUTLIERS (2015)
2015 is proving to be quite the year for the Casey Golden Trio. Live at Bennetts Lane is their second album this year, following the release of Outliers in January. Both albums were recorded during the Australian band’s 2014 Winter Tour.
Having firmly cemented their status as the “it-jazz trio” around the Australian music scene, this new undertaking is nothing short of what we have come to expect from these three talented musicians. Together they have created their very own whimsical musical world, in which elegance is the dictum. The band knows how to ingeniously combine dazzling strokes of creativity with majestic melodies like no other, and the result is out there for the world to witness.
Golden, Williams and Rodrigues are, evidently, a tight-knit assemblage – the cohesion and flow of the sound they craft is more than enough to prove it. Playing together since 2010, the band has been met with popular acclaim, and has been touring around Australia extensively, an aspect which is only crowned with Golden having been a finalist in the jazz category of the APRA Professional Development Awards back in 2013. Being primarily music lovers, and with similar tastes between one another, it is no wonder that their sound is so wholesome and taut. Outliers and Live at Bennetts Lane are prime examples of such. “We’re really proud of the new records because more than anything else, they show our connection as a band”, they acknowledge.
All tracks flow effortlessly, and illustrate a sound expertise that is impossible to replicate. The piano features heavily in all tracks, and is played with a combination of both tenderness and eager innovation. The bass and percussion/drums serve as its faithful companions, and are played with astonishing nimbleness, which only adds to the joy and balance that is so key to the compositions. I, for one, might have wished for more variety, as such is my nature, but the album sounds right the way it is, as if the whole purpose of it was to showcase their mastery in being succinct. There is great skill to be found here – all tracks display a very intelligent approach to writing music, the art of knowing how not to overdo melodies or to clutter works of art. This effort is what characterises the entire album in my opinion, and that which makes it that much more unique.
This is one release I would recommend for those who crave laid-back, beautiful jazz tunes at the end of an exhausting day at work. It delivers just the right amount of zing to accompany a relaxed evening, and leaves you feeling refreshed and eager for what is to come from these musicians.
Reviewed by Francisca Pereira