Sharel Cassity - Gratitude (2025)

Internationally acclaimed saxophonist and woodwindist Sharel Cassity’s new release, Gratitude, out March 28th on Sunnyside Records, shares with audiences and listeners a conversation of joy, hope, and celebration. Joining Cassity on the release are eight-time Grammy-award-winning bassist and composer Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash, and pianist Cyrus Chestnut as well as Terrell Stafford and Michael Dease, a longtime collaborator of Cassity’s. With its persistently effervescent and positivity-focused spirit, the ebullient Gratitude offers something new from the multi-instrumentalist and iconic rhythm trio.

Gratitude is laden with smart and intoxicating hooks, emotionally uplifting and nuanced improvisation, and arrangements that reflect a musicianship well-informed by the work of jazz’s all-time heaviest hitters. That’s not surprising, given that, from collaborators to media coverage, Cassity has a career stamped with high scores across the board. She’s worked with artists including Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Williams, Grammy-award-winner Jennifer Hudson, and Top 40 singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant. She’s also shared stages with Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Roy Hargrove—among many others—and the albums she’s released as a bandleader have garnered favorable reviews by the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and JazzTimes, as well as a cover story for Downbeat Magazine.

Growing up in Oklahoma, one album that became Cassity’s personal guiding light was McBride’s Gettin’ to It. After moving to New York City in 2000, which she called home until briefly relocating to Qatar in 2015, she worked her way up in the performing scene and eventually came to play alongside each member of the rhythm section featured on McBride’s album. Cassity decided to assemble that same rhythm section—McBride, Nash, and Chestnut—for the making of Gratitude.

Gratitude isn’t the first time Cassity has recorded with Nash and Chestnut, who appeared on her 2014 Venus Records release, Manhattan Romance, with Rufus Reid. She also has had prior experience performing with McBride, with whom she toured Aspen as a member of his big band in 2009. Cassity first met Nash in a masterclass while she was a student at Juilliard, and not long after, performed with him professionally in 2008 in the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. The All-Star Big Band, of which Cassity became a member in 2009, was also where Cassity met Chestnut, who quickly became a mentor. After that period of performing in the big band together, Cassity toured Japan with Nash’s big band, which included Chestnut, Steve Wilson, and Terrell Stafford.

Of the release, Cassity comments, “Gratitude is a heartfelt journey, bridging some of my earliest influences in jazz with a deep appreciation for the present … Two essential cultural elements of jazz are community and mentorship, and I'm eternally grateful to have had both. The remarkable individuals I've had the privilege to learn from, collaborate with, and draw inspiration from throughout my career have shaped me into who I am today.”

Cassity’s descriptions of the meaning behind each of her compositions on Gratitude offers deeper insights into that theme, as well as the record’s potential for significant influence and recognition within the jazz world. On the opening track, “Magnetism,” she says, “We can attract and repel people’s ideas and energies and navigate the strong energy currents around us.” This sets the tone for the remainder of the album, whose buoyant moods only reinforce Cassity’s high ideals.

The title track, “Gratitude,” was originally inspired by the love Cassity has felt from her family and friends, but at first, she struggled to compose a melody for it, setting it aside many times. She eventually found inspiration while sitting at the piano and thinking of the support and guidance she received from Jimmy Heath, who passed away in 2020. The melody, she says, then “wrote itself … A little gratitude can go a long way toward changing one's momentum, and Mr. Heath was both grateful and adamant about positivity.”

Capping it all off is “The Promise,” whose heartfelt message—one based on a pinky promise Cassity made to her young son—seals the sentiment behind Gratitude. “The unspoken promise a mother makes to her child is infinite,” she comments. In addition to Cassity’s five original compositions, the album also features arrangements of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” and Richard D. Johnson’s “Stick Up!” and “Suspect.”

Cassity’s roots are in classical music, which today informs her proficiency on her instruments, as well as her ability to imbue melodies—whether her own or from a standard—with a unique depth of artistry. At age 10, she placed third in the Disney International Piano Concerto Competition, and was offered a full scholarship to North Texas State University for classical saxophone at 18. She instead attended the University of Oklahoma, then later earned a BFA in jazz and contemporary music from The New School in 2005, before enrolling at Juilliard on a full scholarship for a master’s in music. She graduated in 2007.

Today, in light of Gratitude’s release, Cassity reflects on how far she’s come, and the abundance she enjoys in her experiences and relationships. “As you listen,” she says, “may you find your own reasons for gratitude throughout the tracks, inviting you on a journey of reflection, resilience, and celebration.”
credits
released March 28, 2025

TRACKLIST

1. Sharel Cassity - Magnetism
2. Sharel Cassity - Smile
3. Sharel Cassity - Stick Up!
4. Sharel Cassity - Gratitude
5. Sharel Cassity - Suspect
6. Sharel Cassity - Kenny’s Quest
7. Sharel Cassity - The Promise
8. Sharel Cassity - In The Spirit