Today, Milena Casado, trumpeter, composer, and producer, releases the second single from her forthcoming debut album Reflection of Another Self due out May 16 via Candid Records. “O.C.T  (Oda to the Crazy Times)” is a meditation on our maddening, infuriating sociopolitical age – LISTEN HERE 

The rhythmic horns, punchy percussion, and experimental production paired with powerhouse bars by GRAMMY-nominated “rap hero” (Washington Post) KOKAYI mirror an overwhelming amount of thoughts, anxiety, confusion, anger, and frustration. 

Says Milena, “The rhythmic motives in this song mirror an overwhelming amount of thoughts, anxiety, confusion, anger, and frustration. I wrote this while trying to process trauma: racism, sexism, meeting and building a relationship with my father… all of it. There’s also a layer of sarcasm in the music, out of frustration, out of exhaustion. This song is personal, yet universal.” 

Casado has already generated incredible buzz in recent years through her work with Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Kris Davis, and other guiding forces in the music world. Reviewing a set led by the pianist Zacchae’us Paul, The New York Times wrote, “Milena Casado, was a revelation.” She was recently featured in the New York Times’ “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Brazilian Jazz.” (Read here) 

Reflection of Another Self is a stunning first statement that is sonically adventurous and a deeply personal exploration of her identity, overcoming personal traumas including experiencing racism growing up in Spain and grappling with her dual heritage, among other profound topics.  It is an adventurous and bold statement from a newcomer who has been honing her skill with luminaries and biding her time, constructing a debut album fit for someone destined to upend the jazz world.

Co-produced by Casado with “one of her biggest mentors and friends,” the drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and the wizardly multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin, Reflection of Another Self boasts a dream team of special guests: harpist Brandee Younger, flutist Nicole Mitchell, pianist Kris Davis, sound artist and turntablist Val Jeanty and the MC KOKAYI. Meshell Ndegeocello stops by to lay down a bassline on “Self Love,” the meditative closer of pure uplift. Alongside these artists is a core band including some of the finest improvising musicians in the game: pianist Lex Korten, bassist Kanoa Mendenhall, drummer Jongkuk Kim, and Morgan Guerin on EWI. 

Of course, Casado, a fluidly virtuosic player who attacks a groove with the graceful power of a champion boxer, could have crushed a more conventional acoustic jazz debut. “But that wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she says. “I was really trying to find these sounds that I had in my head, that I hadn’t really heard yet, and see how I could mix them with an acoustic sound, drawing inspiration from Miles' quintet with Wayne Shorter — especially the Miles Smiles LP.”  

Reflection of Another Self is the most important achievement yet in Casado’s career, but it’s also the beginning of a bold new aesthetic. “When I began this album, I had all these expectations: It’s my first album; It needs to express exactly who I am” she says. “But now I see that it’s really just the starting point of a long exploration.”

Reflection Of Another Self Tracklist

THIS IS MY HAIR (!)
O.C.T (Oda to the Crazy Times) ft. KOKAYI
Yet I Can SeeIntrospection I - I
Lidia y los Libros ft. Brandee Younger & Nicole Mitchell
Unconditional Love
Introspection II - Preguntas
Circles
Let’s Paint the World 
Introspection III - Courage ft. Terri Lyne Carrington
Resilience
Circles (Retrospection) ft. Kris Davis
SELF LOVE