{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Podcast 985: A Conversation with Dan Siegel","description":" Pianist and keyboardist Dan Siegel has covered a broad swath of the jazz spectrum over the course of his four-and-a-half decade career, from straight ahead swing to sleek contemporary sounds. While that\u2019s a testament to Siegel\u2019s multi-faceted talents and restless curiosity, it\u2019s also the result of the diverse array of collaborators that have joined him along the journey \u2013 a roster that includes Bela Fleck, Steve Gadd, Larry Carlton, Ernie Watts, Ottmar Liebert, Lee Ritenour, Brian Bromberg, Eric Marienthal, Bob Sheppard, Boney James, Alex Acu\u00f1a and others. Siegel\u2019s twenty-third release, Unity, is the latest and one of the finest examples of that alchemical process. It reunites the keyboardist with drummer Oscar Seaton for the first time in 20 years, since the recording of the 2004 album Inside Out. It also marks his first meeting with bassist David \u201cDJ\u201d Ginyard, Seaton\u2019s rhythm section partner in Terence Blanchard\u2019s electrically charged E-Collective band. From the time the trio entered the studio together, Siegel\u2019s vision of the music he\u2019d written for the session irrevocably changed, a display of the titular unity. To the core trio, Siegel added a rotating cast of master guitarists, most of them longtime compatriots and friends who each added their own distinctive flavors to the tracks: Rob Bacon (Raphael Saadiq, Amp Fiddler), Allen Hinds (Roberta Flack, Natalie Cole), Michael Miller (Boz Scaggs, Chick Corea), Dean Parks (Steely Dan, Michael Jackson), and Michael Thompson (Babyface, Whitney Houston). Unity also features percussion great Lenny Castro, whose relationship with Siegel dates back to the keyboardist\u2019s self-titled 1982 album, as does that of prolific saxophonist Tom Scott, who heads the album\u2019s horn section. During out conversation for Podcast 985, Siegel acknowledged that at 70, his long and rewarding career is entering a concluding chapter. It\u2019s refreshing to hear an artist address the arc of his career, and Dan speaks eloquently for his fondness for his collaborators, his life as a musician and producer, and the possibility that he may still have more musical mountains to climb. Muscial selections from Unity include \u201cfree Spirit\u201d and \u201cSimple Things.\u201d ","author_name":"Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show","author_url":"http:\/\/straightnochaserjazz.libsyn.com","html":"