Reflection of Another Self by Milena Casado

Few spaces feel quite as intimate and communal as a jazz combo, and Milena Casado investigates this concept of musical groups as a means of self-discovery and security on Reflection of Another Self. With its wordless communication, jazz forces its players into deep empathy, building upon one another’s emotions in ways that a mere conversation could never allow. Casado takes this concept one step further by including instrumentalists which may have traditionally been seen as outsiders to jazz, including a harpist and a turntablist, accepting their experimental, energetic voices into jazz in the same way that she hopes to find acceptance in her community. Through the course of the album, alienation melts away in the face of free self-expression wrapped in increasingly ascendant, gentle, friendly musical surroundings, with frantic, improvised countermelodies making way for much more serene and secure harmonic comps. By finding a home in the music, we too can overcome our discomfort with ourselves, learning to accept our unique nature in the context of a community that welcomes individuality.