Downtown Music Gallery

 

John Esposito/ Jeff Marx/ Jeff Siegel: Tahrir (Sunjump Music 0013; USA)

Featuring John Esposito on piano & compositions, Jeff Marx on tenor & soprano saxes and Jeff Siegel on drums.

 

“Tahrir” is Arabic for liberation and Cairo’s Tahrir Square is the symbol of Egypt’s resistance. This disc is dedicated to those who continue to struggle for liberation. All of the pieces here except for one were written by John Esposito and the sessions were recorded in December of 2011.

 

The opening piece is called, “Oumou” (for singer Oumou Sangare, perhaps?), and already this trio taps into the later Trane mode, modal sounding with McCoyish piano, Trane-like tenor sax and sprawling, powerful drums. Although there is no bassist present, this is a perfect triangular trio, completely connected on all levels. Drummer, Jeff Siegel, does a fine job of balancing things by playing the bass pulse on his bass drums while juggling his support of the sax & piano with the rest of his trap drums & cymbals. Mr.

Esposito also balances things just right by playing the bass-line with his left hand while his right hand plays those complex themes and pulls off one astonishing solo after the other.

 

What makes this disc so special is the way the trio plays together as one tight force of nature. There is strong balance between the freer/more spiritual forces and the connected undertow of currents that runs through everything that is going on. “Glade” shows another more exquisite, organic side of the trio with Esposito on delicate prepared piano and Mr. Marx on soft flute. Most enchanting. Everything about this disc rings true, consistently inventive and spiritually uplifting. You can’t do much better than that.

 

- Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

 

 

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20.03.2012

Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock

A stroke of luck for the city of

New York's Jeff seal Trio plays at Altenkamp contemporary jazz

oF GUNTER HELD

 

​

More than pure rhythm | PHOTOS: GUNTER HERO

 

 

Castle Holte-Stukenbrock. Gisbert Brauckmann is delighted to see the many visitors to the jazz concert on Sunday evening. And it was certainly a daring undertaking, which had made itself the head of the department "Jazz" of the culture circle: After two swing concerts he wanted to show the castle Holte-Stukenbrockern a bit of the range, which is characterized by jazz.

 

When he experienced drummer Jeff Siegel in Paderborn last year, he approached him and invited him to come to Altenkamp. And there they are, three New York jazzmen stopping off in the province on their tour of Europe. Jeff Siegel on drums, Jeff Marx on sax and John Esposito on grand piano.

 

Contemporary jazz was in the announcements - and that is quite something other than a betulicher, Harmony addicted swing. The music is wild, sometimes dissonant and sometimes stressful. She wants something, she challenges the audience, she strains with pleasure. "Maybe that's why jazz is a branch music," says Jeff Marx during the break in a conversation with the Neue Westfälische.

 

"We musicians make our emotions resonate without turning our heads off, on the contrary, the interaction is an important part of jazz." The consumer initially has only the possibility of listening. The emotion or pictorial conception sets in later. That was the same with him. As a teenager, he had heard the saxophonist John Coltrane and could do little with the music. "At some point a switch was turned on and suddenly I understood it," says Marx.

 

To get in the mood, the trio is still moderate. Esposito plays a classic: "The one and only Love" was written in 1952 by Guy Wood and recorded in 1953 by Frank Sinatra. It is bar-jazz of the finest quality and Esposito plays it alone and with a wonderful expression.

 

But already in the second piece, the listeners, who have leaned back relaxed, torn from their dreams. Esposito withdraws, leaves the field to Marx, who blows sound cascades into the room with the saxophone. While in traditional jazz the question-and-answer game plays an important role - one musician gives one theme, another responds to it, another theme develops in contemporary jazz and is sometimes varied beyond recognition.

 

With the piece "Tahir", the musicians point out that jazz is an independent, expressive art form that wants to know quite well politically understood. Jeff Marx comments: "The political component of jazz may be better understood here in Europe than in the US People want to be entertained, and listen to it here." Exciting and always amazing is the way in which jazz musicians produce sounds and timbres.

 

Since the saxophone is overblown to squeak or played with so much air that the sound is just a breath. Esposito puts a couple of CDs on the piano strings and plays with the resulting vibration and Jeff Siegel not only drums on the drums but also sets foot on the snare drum to dampen it.

The music of the three from the "Big Apple" sounds self-confident. Everyone is successful, but not in the first row. They are "Musicians Musicians", musicians of the musicians, and prepare with their skills the prerequisite for the greats of jazz.

 

And it was obvious that not only symphonic poetry, but also jazz can conjure up images when the three musicians played Jeff Marx's "Portrait of Charlie Chaplin". As a march laid out, you saw "The Tramp" in front of him, as he wiggled his head, waving his cane, along the highway.

The Jeff Seal Trio was a godsend to the city's cultural offerings. A color that is likely to get even more space.

 

 

Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock

Two hours of listening enjoyment

Jeff Siegel Trio thrills the Jazzkonzert der Kulturkreis

​The Jeff Siegel Trio played on Sunday at the Kulturforum am Altenkamp (from left): pianist John Esposito, saxophonist Jeff Marx and drummer Jeff Siegel. Photo: Renate Ibeler

 

Tuesday, 20. March 2012

 

- 01:08 clock

 

121 days

Tuesday, 20. March 2012

- 03:08 clock

 

By Renate Ibeler

Jeff Siegel Trio enthusiastic jazz concert of the cultural circle.

Jeff Siegel Trio thrilled jazz concert of the cultural circle

Castle Holte-Stukenbrock (WB). A big compliment: »This audience is interested. The location is great. We like to be here. "A better compliment (interested audience, great place, being here) could hardly have been star drummer Jeff Siegel. Gisbert Brauckmann from the working group »Jazz« of the Kulturkreis Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock had organized the event on Sunday evening and was pleased about this recognition of the artist.

The virtuoso on drums and veteran of the New York jazz scene was a guest at the Kulturforum am Altenkamp with saxophonist Jeff Marx and pianist John Esposito as "Jeff Siegel Trio".

The redesigned stage just opposite the old location with black background screen made the audience for positive feedback. The pleasant ambience in the immediate vicinity with bar tables, drinks and snacks was well received by about 40 visitors.

All the songs played were from the released albums "INYO" from 2010 and "Tahrir" from 2011. Most of the songs had been composed by pianist John Esposito. Including a very moving piece, the musician has dedicated to a deceased student of him. "Elegy" was the name of the composition that expressed sorrow and hope. It also made me think.

The musical dialogues between drummer, saxophonist and pianist were balanced out. No musician came to the fore. The large selection in the field of improvised music of the trio was expressed in the play "Glade". Saxophonist Jeff Marx played on different flutes and drummer Jeff Siegel also used several rattles for drumming. "Every listener is allowed to interpret what they hear for themselves," Siegel revealed in English. So it could have been a jungle or spring or just a good mood.

In summary, the Jeff Siegel Trio presented itself as an excellently rehearsed jazz greats. To the delight of the audience, who thanked for two hours of music enjoyment for the successful jazz evening with a lot of applause. The next jazz concert is already in planning. It will take place on Sunday, September 9th.

 

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Press review Theaterschule mobilé Marktoberdorf

Allgäuer Zeitung - Culture on the spot 31.03.2012

 

Overwhelming

bandwidth

Jazz New Yorker Jeff Siegel Trio gives

fulminating season opener

in the "mobilé" BY GABRIELE SCHROTH Marktoberdorf visit from New York let the jazzclub mobilé rise to new superlatives. Drummer Jeff Siegel has been here for years, this time in the exciting trio, which has been on the road for over 20 years. The musicians of the New York scene gave a brilliant debut. The connoisseur audience hardly wanted to let them go. Because the longer the evening, the greater the admiration for the overwhelming range of their trio art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trio in scorching heights , that means absolute concentration anyway, and the Jeff Siegel Trio falls out of line, because it plays without bass. His sound seems aloof, especially as Jeff Marx always plays his tenor saxophone in scorching heights. Jeff Siegel on the drumset and John Esposito on the piano had their hands full to ground this wonderfully acoustic trio sound. But what are these three musicians and wonderful free eccentrics. Above all, John Esposito with flat cap and two independent miracle hands on the piano keyboard. Not only are they trained in Bach or Ravel, but their teachers are the pianostars of the 1930s, from Earl Hines to Fats Waller with the strong left hand. He delivered a stupendous mood tableau and rousing Pianosolos.

 

 

 

Cooing tones from a flute

 

The saxophonist Jeff Marx already knew that there is hardly anyone on the piano who can accompany this colorful and powerful rhythm. Because Marx is an extreme soloist, who plunges into his wild tone clusters with existential intensity and pale flickering in "Tahrir" or "No Air". He could, however, wallow melancholy like a Mississippi paddle steamer, and in his own piece "A Note to Myself" he developed poetic thrusts. His "Charlie Chaplin" was a heartfelt bizarre portrait. And in Esposito's "Glade" he elicited from a small Peruvian flute rousing cooing jungle birds' voices. Unshakeable and sovereign Unchallengable and confident, Jeff Siegel acted on the drumset. He is like a jazz chameleon. The more magnificent his teammates, the more fantastic his sonorous rhythm explosions. But it's not just about sound or rhythm. Because even with green Shakersticks he conjured up almost noisy dense atmosphere.

 

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Press review Theaterschule mobilé Marktoberdorf

 

Allgäuer Zeitung 22.03.201 2

 

With the Jeff Siegel Trio, the Marktoberdorf "mobilé" announces spring. The "Greetings from New York" program will be open on Sunday, March 25, at 7 pm. The contact with the three

world-class musicians has existed for years, now an appointment could be agreed as part of their European tour. The drummer Jeff Siegel brings with Jeff Marx an outstanding tenor saxophonist and with John Esposito an expressive pianist. Together

The sympathetic trio Siegel-Marx-Esposito commits himself to the musical connection between tradition and modernity, thus creating his own style. Their names join the hit list of world stars with whom they played music. Advance ticket sales are available at Kulturbüro mobilé on 08342/40185.

 

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Sunday, September 14, 2014 - Tim Niland - Jazzblogspot

 

John Esposito is a multi-faceted guy: a pianist, composer, band leader and collaborator, which are all referenced in this album. The band also includes Jeff Marx on saxophones and flutes and Jeff Siegel on drums and percussion. The opening "Oumou" and concluding track "Star Arrow" are very compelling, touching on the music of the mid 1960's John Coltrane Quartet and early 1970's McCoy Tyner band. Esposito makes use of the entire keyboard, building the music dramatically through lower rumbles of bass and drops and showers of brighter notes. Named for the Egyptian square where democracy protests took place, the title track "Tahrir" is appropriately dramatic with a powerful opening followed by rippling piano and drums. The collective improvisation on "Mr. K" works really well, with each member of the band fully supported by the other two for solos and trio playing. Seigel is the centerpiece on "Summit" taking a moody and open ended solo that fits the quality of feeling

of the performance. "Glade" moves things in an entirely different direction with prepared piano, flute and very light percussion setting a mystical vibe. Marx and Siegel move to saxophone and drums but keep the exotic nature of the performance going strong. The powerful and fast "Mezzomprph" takes the group back into familiar modern jazz territory highlighted by Marx shifting between multiple horns. The hard work that went into this album really pays off, the music is challenging and thoughtful and makes a complete and coherent statement.

 

 

 

 

 

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