Album Notes

Tom Casale is a Boston area based composer and bassist. "The Gift" is his second cd. His first cd released in 2010 was titled "Two Quartets Live At The Lilypad." It was recorded in the well known jazz venue in Cambridge Massachusettes the Lilypad. It explores a variety of sounds and textures with a focus on crafted melodies, colorful harmonies and unussual forms. Casale says his focus is as a composer, but he is clearly a capable upright bassist as well. His second album "The Gift" was recorded in a studio and has a much more polished sound. Where the live album shows a great deal of virtuosity and explorations in improvisation in a very raw setting. the studio album is much more organized and focused while exploring many similar sounds and textures. "The Gift" features a quintet with Casale on bass, Greg Takemoto on Saxophone, Matt Macaulay on Guitar, Tony Cabral on Piano, and Alex Chapman on drums. Compositionally Casale is able to get a wide variety of sounds from this group. He calls on influences like The Esjborn Svenssen Trio, John Zorn, Ben Allison, Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter and more. Definitely an artist worth checking out.