NEAL CAINE, BACKSTABBER'S BALL, SMALLS.
{ran on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air," 4 July 2005}

You can listen to the audio of this review on NPR's site from this page. Or read the transcript below:

Terry Gross: Jazz bassist Neal Caine divides his time between New York and New Orleans. He's worked a lot with singers, having performed or recorded with Betty Carter, Diana Krall, Maria Muldaur, and his regular boss Harry Connick Jr. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says, that resume won't prepare you for what Caine's own first album sounds like. Kevin says it bodes well for the future.

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Whitehead: It makes twisted sense that Neal Caine would record his almost eerily subdued music while working for extraverted showman Harry Connick. It's as if Caine wanted some relief from the siss-boom-ba of show business, without giving up the power of a good melody. Caine's CD "Backstabber's Ball" has a few good tunes, in an age when even one memorable number can make an album stand out. His disc is on the Smalls label, of the Greenwich Village night club Smalls, a haven for younger musicians like Caine, who bring a fresh approach to the grand tradition. Most bandleaders who draft two tenor saxophonists into a quartet look for contrasting players, one who blows hot and the other cool. But Caine's tenors-Ned Goold who plays with him in Connick's band, and Stephen Riley, who doubles on alto clarinet-are as cool as twin popsicles. They exploit their similarity to good effect. They've worked so hard on phrasing together, at times they sound oddly like Rahsaan Roland Kirk when he'd play two saxes at once-at least if Kirk had played at a whisper.

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Whitehead: The quiet atmosphere, ghostly harmonizing of the horns, and Neal Caine's knack for writing wistful melodies that sound like half-remembered standards, give his music a misterioso atmosphere too rare in jazz. He takes elements you can trace back to one trend or another and spins something new out of them; there are echoes of cool saxophonists like Stan Getz and Jimmy Giuffre, and bits or pieces that sound inspired by bassist-leaders Charles Mingus, Dave Holland and Charlie Haden. Whether Caine hears it that way is another thing, but it doesn't really matter: this music stands on is own legs. Here's Caine's tune "Late Night Living," where one saxophonist overdubs an extra line to fill out the sound.

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Whitehead: Bassist Neal Caine's partner in the rhythm section is drummer Jason Marsalis, who's self-effacing almost to a fault here; no siss-boom-ba for him. Caine steps out for a few sturdy solos, but this is less a showcase for his bass playing than his composing and artistic vision. It's the rare jazz record, let alone a leader's debut, which makes such a strong statement by treading so carefully.

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