Jeff Marx & Jeff "Siege" Siegel - Dreamstuff

Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

Tenor saxophonist Marx and drummer Siegel showcase bright talents in ten improvisations where the right balance of freedom and regulation seems to be the main bedrock of their approach.

Except for “Bird’s Sanctuary”, whose character is pretty ritualistic and deeply meditative, most of the tracks show lots of percussive sinuousness and melodic resourcefulness, resulting in a thoroughly gratifying experience. Marx’s corpulent tone never falters, delivering lines upon lines of forceful malleability which ranges from an extreme to another of the improvisational fantasy’s rainbow arc. No chance for him to be inserted in some heavy-duty shelf: after one’s convinced of having systematized that voice in a context of influences, off the man flies from our fist with swirling insurrections contradicting the previous codes of his playing.

Siegel is one of those drummers whose polyrhythmic mastery transforms the “skin factor” into something that can be digested either as an unsophisticated marvel (“I don’t understand it, but it’s beautiful!”) or a demonstration of anti-egocentrism, as he privileges thoughtful interaction and sensitive underlining of his comrade’s virtues rather than exposing himself in full bodybuilder booming pose (case in point, the gorgeous “Kind Of Like Talking”).

Nice effort from both artists, a veritable breath of fresh air that will find you satisfied, if not energized at the end of the album.