Jeff
Marx and Jeff "Siege" Siegel | Dreamstuff
Ayler Records
Review
by Peter Aaron
The
photo of tenor saxophonist Jeff Marx and drummer Jeff “Siege”
Siegel inside the printable booklet of this download-only release
is certainly well chosen. A candid shot taken on a sunny afternoon
in a Manhattan city park, it depicts the duo caught up in friendly
game of chess—the perfect metaphor for the rewarding musical
tête-àtête Marx and Siegel have been involved
in for nearly 30 years; first as members of the Brooklyn Jazz Quartet,
then of Second Sight, a band that also featured revolutionary trumpeter
Dave Douglas and Hudson Valley pianist John Esposito, who contributes
liner notes and four compositions to Dreamstuff.
The tenorist and percussionist have since moved on from the soul-devouring
grind of the New York scene—Marx to Chicago, Siegel to Shokan—and
these days don’t get to play together as often as they [or
we] would like. But mere geographic separation has done little to
quell the duo’s deep psychic rapport, as these 10 improvised
and through-composed tracks make copiously clear. “Esposition,”
a cleverly named tribute to the twosome’s friend and former
band mate, and the appropriately titled “Kind of Like Talking”
are representative of the high level of engaging conversation played
out over this set; masters of tension and release, Marx and Siegel
always know exactly when to let the music breathe and when to prod
each other on. Recorded in 2005 around the time of a concert the
pair gave at Bard College, Dreamstuff will have lovers of inventive
jazz counting the days until Marx and Siegel’s next convergence.
Let’s hope it’s soon.
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