Trey Anastasio Band saxophonist and vocalist James Casey has released a new Christmas album, A Little Something for Everyone, to raise funds to fight colon cancer. He also announced a second run of vinyl after the initial pressing sold out in under 12 hours, raising $6,000 for colon cancer charities, and launched a limited-edition merch store to support the colorectal cancer community.
Casey was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer himself in July 2021 after falling ill at Red Rocks while performing with Bill Kreutzmann‘s Billy and the Kids. After initially keeping the diagnosis private, he was resolved to use his platform to help others upon learning that Black Americans are more likely both to get colon cancer and to suffer from early onset and late stage diagnoses, like himself. He recorded A Little Something for Everyone between chemotherapy treatments, which forced him to sit out TAB’s 2021 fall tour.
“The thing about colon cancer, at least in the Black community, is that it’s hereditary and it hits us 20 percent more than anybody else. And once we get diagnosed, we have a 30 percent chance more of dying, which is really unfortunate,” Casey explained while speaking about his involvement with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance‘s (CCA) #TheyDidntSay campaign during a recent interview with WNYC. “Had I known that I had cancer in my family, I would have gone to get checked before… If there’s cancer in your family, please let the people know so they can get tested and they won’t have to deal with this.”
Produced in partnership with Nancy Langhorne Foundation, the EP contains four holiday songs spanning, funk, R&B, jazz, and gospel, including the original song “Christmafunk” and a special instrumental saxophone rendition of “Joy To The World” available exclusively on vinyl. The album is the first released by Casey under his own name and features top session musicians from New York including Randy Runyon (guitar), Ian Faquini (guitar), Matt Owens (trumpet), Steve Jenkins (bass), Corey Bernhard (keys) and Derrick White (horns), who did the arrangement for “Joy to the World”. It was recorded at The Creamery in Brooklyn, NY.
A Little Something for Everyone is out now on all streaming platforms, with vinyl copies available for pre-order via 12-23 Records until December 25th. The records will not ship in time for the holidays, but items from the online merch store, which include t-shirts, hoodies, beanies, and pins, will. All proceeds from vinyl sales will benefit the HOPES Clinic and the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, and 15% of all merch sales will be donated to the CCA.
Having played on albums with an array of artists ranging from Talib Kweli and J. Cole to Phish and Lettuce, Casey plans to release his first original EP, Kauai, in spring 2023. For more information, visit his website.
Listen to A Little Something for Everyone via Spotify in the player below.
James Casey – A Little Something for Everyone
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