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Casey Golden
Casey Golden is a forward-thinking musician based in Sydney. Described as ‘a brilliant improviser with a highly developed melodic sensibility’ (The Australian) and ‘a pianist of sheer class’ (Jazzwise), he’s been involved in a wide range of original music ranging from jazz/improvised projects to electronic, pop and film music.
Born in Sydney into a family of musicians, Golden is the grandson of internationally renowned jazz trumpeter Bob Barnard. He studied classical piano from a young age and was exposed to a wide variety of music through his mother’s vast record collection. He has a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance and has studied with Australian pianists including Alister Spence and Matt McMahon and international artists including Gerald Clayton, Lage Lund and Aaron Parks.
From 2010-2016 Casey led a trio featuring bassist Bill Williams and drummer Ed Rodrigues, performing widely and ‘crafting a tightly spun dynamic where the lines between head and improvisation are constantly blurred’ (All About Jazz). The trio released three albums together: Outliers; Live at Bennetts Lane; and Miniature, and received high critical praise for their unique aesthetic and strong connection as a band - ‘It is rare that a musical vision is so complete, and completely of its own world.’ (Australianjazz.net).
In 2019, Golden, Williams and Rodrigues reformed as the co-led trio States of Chaos and continued to build on their shared vision and history together. They were the 2020 Artists in Residence at Fine Music FM and have released three recordings: States of Chaos; Time’s End; and 3. They are featured in the short film Beneath the Stigma (SBS On Demand) - an experimental art film, fusing candid testimonies with a live improvised soundtrack.
At age 17, Casey won a BBM Travel Scholarship that allowed him to travel to London and further his studies among the London music scene. He returned to the UK to live in 2017 and was based there for several years, working across the London jazz scene as well as putting together his own band and recording the duo album Inventions with harp-guitarist (and uncle) Tony Barnard. His 2018 album ATLAS, recorded with his London-based band received critical acclaim, praising ‘the beautiful, intelligent, empathic, yet chop-restrained interplay between the four musicians’ (UK Vibe) and crediting Golden as ‘a fine orchestrator as well as an idiosyncratic composer and imaginative improviser’ (Sydney Morning Herald).
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Casey Golden: Atlas
by Mark Sullivan
Australian pianist/composer Casey Golden, now a London resident, was last heard from on Miniature (Scrampion Records, 2016) with his long-standing Sydney-based trio. He also appears on Phillip Johnston's The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Cuneiform Records, 2018). Atlas is the first recording from his new London-based quartet with guitarist Alex Munk, bassist Henrik Jensen, drummer Will Glaser and the leader on piano. This is his fourth recording as a leader. The title tune opens the album quietly. At first ...
read moreCasey Golden Trio: Outliers
by Ian Patterson
In the past twenty years the jazz piano trio has branched out from the standards format into e.s.t..--influenced, virtuosity-leaning trios and song-based units like the Neil Cowley Trio and GoGo Penguin. Of course, that's not the full piano trio picture, but it's refreshing to come across an alternative to both the traditional American trio and the hordes of anthemic, pop and rock-influenced European models. With Outliers The Casey Golden Trio eschews typical rhythmic and melodic terrain, crafting a very tightly ...
read more‘It is rare that a musical vision is so complete, and completely of its own world.’ Australianjazz.net ‘
…a fine orchestrator as well as an idiosyncratic composer and imaginative improviser.’ Sydney Morning Herald
‘A brilliant improviser with a highly developed melodic sensibility’ The Australian
‘Golden further cements his reputation as a pianist of sheer class.’ Jazzwise (UK)
'Golden delivers worldly modernism with his glowing attack and sweeping musical suggestions, in a remarkably coherent vision which is at once grounded and atmospheric.' Fine Music Magazine
Primary Instrument
Piano
Location
Sydney
Willing to teach
Advanced only