Biography
Born Robert Hanley Casey, the musician developed proficiency on both bass and guitar, an ability partly traceable to his initial command of the tenor banjo, whose two paired strings and guitar-like execution anticipated the techniques required by those later instruments. Self-taught on the banjo at fourteen, he secured professional employment several years afterward with the Egyptian Transportation System Orchestra in Illinois. At the close of 1927 he relocated to St. Louis, where he spent the ensuing five years as a sideman for Joe Gill and Joe Reichman while adding double bass to his continuing guitar work.
In 1933 Casey shifted to Chicago and aligned himself with trumpeter Wingy Manone, thereby elevating his standing within jazz circles. He maintained a full schedule in the city, appearing with the King’s Jesters and serving as a staff musician at the local NBC station. During the summer of 1939 Muggsy Spanier enlisted him for the rhythm section; when that ensemble disbanded, Casey returned to Chicago and performed with Gus Arnheim and Charlie Spivak. By the early 1940s he had reached New York, where he appeared regularly at Nick’s, most often alongside Brad Gowans, and at Eddie Condon’s club, contributing either bass or guitar and thereby accumulating an extensive recorded legacy under Condon’s leadership.
Casey joined a circle that included trumpeter Bobby Hackett and pianist Art Hodes, all encouraged by the sustained public interest in traditional jazz idioms. This demand persisted irrespective of his chosen residence. In 1957 he established himself in Florida; early in the following decade he joined the Dukes of Dixieland and encountered heightened opportunities. After a brief reduction in activity toward the end of the 1960s, he soon returned to New York to satisfy calls for experienced players capable of supplying the distinctive rhythmic authenticity that later generations had yet to master.
In 1933 Casey shifted to Chicago and aligned himself with trumpeter Wingy Manone, thereby elevating his standing within jazz circles. He maintained a full schedule in the city, appearing with the King’s Jesters and serving as a staff musician at the local NBC station. During the summer of 1939 Muggsy Spanier enlisted him for the rhythm section; when that ensemble disbanded, Casey returned to Chicago and performed with Gus Arnheim and Charlie Spivak. By the early 1940s he had reached New York, where he appeared regularly at Nick’s, most often alongside Brad Gowans, and at Eddie Condon’s club, contributing either bass or guitar and thereby accumulating an extensive recorded legacy under Condon’s leadership.
Casey joined a circle that included trumpeter Bobby Hackett and pianist Art Hodes, all encouraged by the sustained public interest in traditional jazz idioms. This demand persisted irrespective of his chosen residence. In 1957 he established himself in Florida; early in the following decade he joined the Dukes of Dixieland and encountered heightened opportunities. After a brief reduction in activity toward the end of the 1960s, he soon returned to New York to satisfy calls for experienced players capable of supplying the distinctive rhythmic authenticity that later generations had yet to master.