Sharel Cassity

by Michael Jackson, Downbeat
December 2009

"Any chauvanist jazzers who still believe blowing post-bop saxophone is the preserve of the male of the species haven't heard young guns Grace Kelly and Tineke Postma. Sharel Cassity is another no-nonsense release with a New York tight sextet, plus guests, anchored by session vets Dwayne Burno and E.J.Strickland." - Downbeat Magazine, review by Michael Jackson

Sharel Cassity definitely resides in the retro camp, showing her clear allegiance to the bop idiom with every ii-V change she makes. She comes out of Juilliard, but you will be forgiven if, upon hearing her, you think you are having a flashback to the days of 52nd Street. There is nothing laid back about Cassity's playing, which throws caution to the wind; but even in the heat of barn-burning solo, she still has a sweet, full tone. No, this is not The Shape of Jazz to Come, but if you don't get a kick hearing a soloist of this caliber flying over bop changes at a breakneck pace, you need a jolt of digitalis before they let you back into the iTunes store. - Jazz.com

In January 2008 Sharel Cassity
attended a New Year’s Day
party that would change her
life. An alto saxophonist unknown
outside New York, Cassity
hadn’t been invited to the
party at bassist John Lee’s house
in northern New Jersey. Her
boyfriend, trombonist Michael
Dease, received the invitation,
and she went along as his date.
That night Cassity sat in during
a jam session and took a solo
turn on Dizzy Gillespie’s “Be
Bop,” following trumpeter Roy
Hargrove and saxophonist Antonio
Hart. She more than acquitted
herself. Jimmy Heath and
Hargrove would ask Cassity to
join their respective big bands.
Lee, who directs the Dizzy Gillespie
All-Star Big Band, followed
suit last year, and also released
Cassity’s second album,
Relentless, on his Jazz Legacy Productions
imprint.
“You know how they say your life can
change in a minute, or change overnight?” Cassity
said. “It did that day. From that moment on,
that was when everything took off. Since then
I’ve been able to be a part of this legacy and
learn from all the greats that are around [the Gillespie]
band. It’s a blessing.”
Cassity grew up in Yukon, Okla., and moved
to New York in 2000. By 2007 she had earned
jazz performance degrees from the New School
for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Juilliard
School. She recorded an independent release
while performing with the Diva and Fat
Cat big bands and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen.
Though hardly insignificant, these gigs fell short
of the national spotlight.
To this end, Relentless could provide a boost
if not a breakthrough. The album recalls the
hard bop recordings of the 1960s. Cassity composed
six of the eight tracks, and the sidemen
include trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, pianist Orrin
Evans and drummer E.J. Strickland. In addition
to showcasing Cassity’s chops, the album demonstrates
her talents as an arranger, a knack that
has impressed Jimmy Heath and James Moody,
her peers in the Gillespie band’s reed section.
“Moody dubbed her ‘Sectionette,’” Heath
said. “Because she’s a section player. Sharel has
learned a lot about the language of jazz. And
she has the ability to speak it. The only thing
she needs is more exposure to speak it to more
people. She’s always interested in new things
and what she’s hearing, and in the history of
the music. She’s great now. But she is always
searching, like all of us. The sky’s the limit.
She’s a worker.”
While Cassity is among a small number of
female horn players in jazz, she attaches little
importance to this issue. She enjoys camaraderie
wherever she performs; this is especially true
in big bands.
“When I was growing up I was always the
only girl in the saxophone section,” she said.
“For some reason I never realized that it was
anything different or anything unusual. Actually,
it’s a strange experience for me playing in
Diva [whose membership is restricted to women].
You would think I would feel like I’m at
home with all women; but it’s so unusual to me.
It’s definitely a different experience.”
Cassity would like to translate the camaraderie
of big bands to her own small groups.
“When all the cats get together it’s like a family,”
she said. “And I think that’s important because
the young musicians can learn from the
older ones. I wouldn’t get that if I weren’t in big
bands. I’d love to have a small group one day
that felt like we were a band, where we trust
one another. But I think that takes time and that
comes with the group aging, and I haven’t had
enough work yet as a leader for that to completely
come together.” —Eric Fine - Downbeat Magazine, article by Eric Fine

A few years before she got her Masters degree from Juilliard, multi-instrumentalist Sharel Cassity was a college student scrabbling for places to play jazz in her native Oklahoma. But while it's a safe bet that Jimmy Heath owns saxophones older than she is, Cassity has the chops, the sound, and the material to stand proudly next to her label mates.

The opening track is titled "Say What?," apparently named for the reaction Cassity's ear-grabbing opening salvo should garner, and not just because she plays fearless, unerring soprano sax. Like all her originals, "Say What?" feels like it's been around for years, and yet it's got the brightness and energy of a newborn colt. Cassity does most of her work on alto sax, building solos with riveting designs. This cracking, substantive jazz gets great support from drummer E.J. Strickland and bassist Dwayne Burno. And Cassity incorporates hot professionals from the generation in front of her: reedman Don Braden switches to alto flute for "Still," trombonist Michael Dease (who penned the title track) is a perfect partner for Cassity's alto, and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt makes "Love's Lament" a little more forlorn.

Maintaining a legacy (of jazz, or anything else) doesn't stop at repeating the deeds of the past. It also requires finding people to learn from—and then build on—that past, so that the future is even better. While Chestnut, Davis, and the Heath Brothers are prime examples of jazz' past, Sharel Cassity has the potential to be one of the leaders of this genre's next generation. If John Lee can find more where she came from, the future's going to be pretty cool.
- J Hunter

Sharel Cassity's second release as a leader gives the alto saxophonist a bit more opportunity to show off her chops, as she adds both soprano sax and flute, while she also focuses extensively on her own compositions, something she omitted from her debut CD, Just for You. Though very youthful in appearance, she's a seasoned musician who started playing young, then detoured from her initial plan to finish her music education at Berklee by opting to play in New York City, where she earned a bachelor's degree at the New School and a master's degree at Juilliard. She has also toured with the all-female Diva big band and Jimmy Heath's big band. Old friend Michael Dease is once again on hand playing trombone, while trumpeter Jeremy Pelt appears on several tracks, with a top-notch rhythm section consisting of veteran pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Dwayne Burno, and drummer E.J. Strickland. Cassity begins on soprano with her delightful brisk blues "Say What?," an intricate number that inspires stimulated improvising all around. Dease, who wrote several numbers for the leader's debut date, penned the warm bossa nova"Relentless," which includes an expanded group with the leader on flute, guests Don Braden on alto flute, flügelhornist Thomas Barber (who also appeared on Just for You), and tenor saxophonist Andres Boyarsky. Cassity's emotional alto sax fits the mood of her bittersweet ballad "Love's Lament," with lush backing by Evans. Cassity doubles on soprano sax and flute (the latter only in the introduction) in Charles Tolliver's enticing, exotic "On the Nile," a harmonically rich arrangement that recalls the power of driving post-bop of the mid-'60s. This is a fine effort by Sharel Cassity, who is clearly one to watch.
-Ken Dryden - Ken Dryden