Elliott Caine Sextet Live On "Hippie Chicks" CD

Despite the psychedelic title (Hippie Chicks On Acid)(Wondercap 07006) and the tongue-in-cheek cover art, this CD documents a modern hard bop sextet date shading into energy territory (something like Lee Morgan in the Lighthouse period).

Trumpeter Elliott Caine has that extroverted, big brassy sound of the Navarro-Brown through Morgan-Shaw school. His sextet has notable other solo voices too--Carl Randall on tenor, Maheesh Balasooriya on piano, Nick Mancini, vibes; and a crack bass-drums team of Bill Markus and Kenny Elliott, respectively.

This puts you into gear with 65 minutes of live immediacy. The tunes are effective blowing vehicles written by Mr. Caine in a later Blue Note boldness of style.

Your enjoyment of Hippie Chicks will have a direct relation to where you stand vis-a-vis this style. It's music that brims over with life. While it probably won't win any awards this year, it will find a welcome place in your collection for its fire and honest free-swinging approach.