Album Review: Casey Abrams - "#Jazz"
Written By: Big C
Grade = 85% or 4 ⭐️
Track List ~ 33 Minutes
Let’s Spend The Night Together 1:25 ❌
Pizza Love 3:08 ❌
Lifetime Check 2:36 ✅
Can’t Buy Me Love 2:36 ✅
I Choose You 4:01 ⭐️
Love Is The Song 3:21 ⭐️
Sing To Me Darling 2:43 ✅
You Got Me Smiling Again 2:36 ❌
Soul Out 3:14 ⭐️
Really Saying Something 4:25 ✅
Idyllwild 3:11 ✅
Jazz isn't necessarily a destination for Casey Abrams—it feels more like home. Produced alongside Davy Nathan, #Jazz spends just over 33 minutes mixing jazz, R&B, salsa, pop and big-band influences with the humor and spontaneity Abrams has carried from American Idol to Postmodern Jukebox and stages around the world.
Musically, the album is at its best when Abrams' personality takes over. Lifetime Check brings out his internal dialogue, while Can’t Buy Me Love plays with vocal counterpoint and Soul Out lets rhythmic acceleration and scat work run free. I Choose You” was my favorite, the aggression that develops through the second verse gives Abrams another dimension, while the warmth and range of Love Is The Song feels almost built for an animated visual.
Not every experiment lands equally. Let’s Spend The Night Together feels more like an interlude than an opener, and You Got Me Smiling Again becomes predictable beside the album's more adventurous moments. Still, Abrams' willingness to move between technique, humor and experimentation keeps #Jazz interesting. There are flashes of everything from Louis Armstrong to Michael Jackson, but his personality keeps those influences from taking over.
That journey eventually lands in Idyllwild, named after the California mountain town where Abrams studied under Marshall Hawkins. With Jacob Scesney on saxophone and birds chirping around the music, the closing track feels like a warm embrace of home. #Jazz doesn't feel like Abrams trying to prove he belongs in jazz; it sounds like a musician returning to where he started with considerably more stories to tell. Stream the album here and connect with Casey Abrams on Instagram, Twitter (X), Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify.
Best Song = I Choose You
Comments