Composer and using piano, accordion or keyboards, Dan Siegel brings in a rotating rhythm team of allstar bassists in Brian Bromberg, Abraham Laboriel and Dwayne ‘Smitty’ Smith as well as first class drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Gadd and Omari Williams to tie in Allen Hinds/g, Lenny Castro/perc, Lee Thornburg/tp-tb, Eric Marienthal/sax, Rogerio Jardim/voc, Charlie bisharat/vi and various other sublime guests.
The tunes themselves have an accessible pop/rock feel, not unlike vintage Steely Dan, with highly melodic forms on “Old School”, “Curves Ahead” and “Tried and True” serving as rich vehicles for Marienthal’s solos. “Your Smile” serving as a rich theme for Jardim’s wondrous voice teaming with a sublime parlor feel of strings and horns. Siegal sways with Calaiuta and Laboriel on “Some Time Ago” and the team gets dramatic on the bold “Once Again”. Someone needs to add some Fagen-esque lyrics to this set!