Another new release to look for that I'm playing on is saxophonist Ron Blake's latest recording, which is coming out this
spring. It features Christian McBride and Greg Hutchinson among others.
LA WEEKLY
12/14/01
There's such an extraordinary wealth of great young jazz musicians these days, more and more of them seem to be slipping through the cracks; 35-year-old, LA -born pianist Michael Cain should not be one of them. The deeply talented Cain grew up in Las Vegas and returned to the Southland to study jazz and classical piano at USC and CalArts; he then took off for New York in 1990, where he was quickly snapped up by longtime Keith Jarrett drummer Jack DeJohnette for his own group. If Cain has somehow stayed beneath your radar, consider this: DeJohnette, one of the best musicians on the planet (and whose own second instrument is piano), not only kept the young pianist on for eight years, but gave him equal billing in his trio by the time Cain split. It's easy to hear what attracted DeJohnette: Cain's got a strong Jarrett streak in him, both in his sweeping control of the keyboard and the delicate, lyrical, airy improvisations he brings forth from it. But he is also resolutely his own man, an adventurous, intrigue composer who's put out a number of fascinating albums under his own name: Best of all, perhaps, is his 1997 sax-trumpet-piano album, Circa, a unique meditation on the city of his youth. It's a great disc, brimming with childlike wonder, rueful nostalgia, open desert spaces and carnival overtones - and, like Cain himself, richly deserves to be heard.
- Brandt Reiter
VILLAGE VOICE
April 97
The pianist's appearances around town and on numerous recordings have been consistently intriguing and rewarding.
- Gary Giddins
DOWNBEAT
April 97
If you've got to conform to get ahead in today's jazz scene, somebody forgot to tell Michael Cain. Despite his unusual background and rarified tastes, he has enjoyed surprising success--largely on his own terms--since coming to New York in 1990. Cain's music is austere and playful.
- Larry Birnbaum
LOS ANGELES TIMES
3/1/90
Cain brings fresh ideas to jazz.
- Don Heckman
BOSTON GLOBE
4/10/97
Cain plays with great invention and fluency, using his left hand to both echo and reinforce the unusual ideas generated by his right.
- Bob Blumenthal
JAZZ TIMES
May 97
Pianist Michael Cain possesses a fresh perspective encompassing classical, jazz and non-western. Circa is an event to celebrate.
- Chuck Berg
JAZZIZ
July 97
Circa is compositionally inventive, immaculately performed, and by turns amusing and quite beautiful.
- William Stephenson
LA WEEKLY
2/23/01
You can feel the air above Michael Cain's fingers when he strikes the piano keys; it's a kind of...insubstantial weight. You notice that touch whether he's getting gentle and melodic, or exploring elegant neoclassical territory, or taking a page from Bed Powell, or executing strange percussive tricks. Jack DeJohnette, since he plays piano himself when he's not drumming, is picky about the instrument in his own band, and Cain was the guy he picked for several albums.
