May 2007

Elliott Caine Quintet
Blues From Mars
Rhombus

By Forrest Dylan Bryant

Drawing from 1960s hard bop and Latin jazz in equal measure, trumpeter Elliott Caine comes up with a pleasing if familiar sound on his third CD, mashing up Horace Silver, Tito Puente and even Charles Mingus through nine original compositions. Caine approaches his solos like a boxer, bobbing and weaving, jabbing with upper-register rabbit punches or warily circling the perimeter of his tunes. Munyungo Jackson adds percussive power to the churning “La Verdad Es La Verdad,” and the title track lives up to its B-movie billing with a mix of otherworldly menace and sly humor.