js When Marbin first hit the scene in 2009, they presented a sort of jam band/art rock hybrid, with several tracks revealing jazz fusion leanings. Last year’s live CD, “The Third Set”, finally showed Marbin unleashing their inner mounting birds of fire fusion attack that you knew was there all along. Much of “Third Set”s direction came from guitarist DanI Rabin, who really came alive on this live set, and moved up a few notches in the ranks of guitar fusion fretboard heroes. With their new CD, “Aggressive Hippies”, Marbin continues in this high energy rockin approach to fusion, but this time around, saxophonist Danny Markovitch has a more pronounced presence and is up for matching Rabin ‘blow for blow’.

As mentioned earlier, Marbin’s approach to fusion leans to the rock side as they can often recall early Mahavishnu, Tommy Bolin with Cobham and Miles’ mid-70s rock band with Pete Cosey. DanI Rabin is one of those guitarists with a fluid singing tone along the lines of Jeff Beck, Steve Vai and Oz Noy. Danny Markovitch’s sax playing avoids the long lines of the post bop players, but instead goes for fast punchy repeating riffs that are similar to a rock guitar style. DanI and Danny together are reminiscent of Miles’ mid-70s rockin sax/guitar attack via Pete Cosey and Sonny Fortune. Some of these influences may be there, but Marbin definitely has their own sound, possibly a little more melodic and upbeat than these possible influences.

The big pluses with Marbin are their high energy level, strong melodic writing skills and a sense of sheer uplifting joy in their music. This is not a band going through the motions looking for another buck. Although “Aggressive Hippies” is a studio album, it was recorded as a live jam in the studio, and that really comes through. Generally, “Aggressive Hippies” is every bit as loose and ‘live’ as their preceding live set released in 2014.

js Marbin’s first three studio albums reveled a diverse band that mixed art rock, jazz fusion, blues rock and middle eastern music into interesting CDs that balanced melodic sensitivity with high energy jazzy rock. There was always a feeling that guitarist DanI Rabin wouldn’t mind pushing aside some of the more sensitive material and show the world what he was really capable of on the guitar, and on the new live CD, “Third Set”, that is what we get. Gone are most of the melodic ballads, while the amount of high octane rock fusion numbers increase, the end result; a new guitar hero is born. It always seemed like Dani Rabin had this sort of performance inside him, and on “Third Set” his inner guitar-hero is finally set free. This is jazz rock guitar playing on the rock side of things with a very heavy distorted and saturated sound somewhere in-between Jeff Beck, Steve Vai, Oz Noy and Jimi Hendrix. Sometimes when Dani unleashes a steady stream of notes on the high end of the neck, he almost recalls the late Pete Cosey on Miles’ “Agharta” album. Dani’s strong melodic sense can also recall Mike Stern, another famous Miles sideman.

Although this live CD leans more towards Rabin and the rockier side of things, saxophonist and fellow band co-leader, Danny Markovitch, definitely adds some fire of his own. Danny’s playing on here adjusts to the heavy feel by playing a lot of guitar-like fast repeating riffs, rather than the flowing lines of a jazz approach. His choice of high end saxophone sounds, such as the soprano sax, may seem at odds with the heavy guitar, but he makes it work. Once again the album “Agharta” comes to mind on which saxophonist Sonny Fortune would play rock like riffs on the soprano sax over Miles’ heavy psychedelic band. Not everything on “Third Set” is heavy, on the song “Culture”, Markovitch opens with an unaccompanied solo that shows his interest in middle-eastern music. Also, the tracks “Crystal Bells” and “Northern Odyssey” act as instrumental power ballads among the more high octane numbers.

For those who were hoping that Marbin might head in a more energetic and guitar based direction, your dreams have come true. As far as heavy guitar oriented fusion goes, this is one of the best CDs so far for 2014. DanI Rabin’s solos are fast, extravagant and laser accurate, but more importantly, they are fun to listen to, lots of life affirming good vibes going on here.

kev rowland A short while ago I was raving about Marbin’s 2012 album ‘Breaking The Cycle’, and I now have in the player their third album ‘Last Chapter of Dreaming’. There have been a few line-up changes, with Danny Markovitch (saxophone) and Dani Rabin (guitar) now joined by Justyn Lawrence (drums) and Jae Gentile (bass) who replaced Paul Wertico and Steve Rodby (who both make appearances on the album on certain songs). There are also plenty of guests, but the focus of this album is the interplay between Danny and Dani which has been honed by touring anywhere and everywhere and playing live as much as possible.

The music moves from hard rock fusion, swirling through jazz and into gentler climates with acoustic guitar, glockenspiel and vocals in “Café de Nuit”. I won’t say what I was listening to before and after I heard this album for the first time, but it really put them into the shade as to my poor abused ears this is faultless. The sound is spot on (congrats Rich Breen), the interplay between all involved is perfection itself while the musicianship is second to none. All of this would be meaningless if the music had no soul and groove but that is there in abundance. If this isn’t a five star album then I don’t know what is. www.moonjune.com

js Marbin is essentially guitarist Dani Rabin and saxophonist Danny Markovitch, plus a variety of guest musicians, who combine jazz fusion, modern blues-rock and world music on their new CD, “Last Chapter of Dreaming”, into a personal form of highly melodic instrumental music. There is a very eclectic mix going on here with Rabin’s strong expressive guitar sound often recalling Jeff Beck, Steve Vai or Oz Noy, while Markovitch’s slippery slinky soprano saxophone recalls the Yiddish influence in the music of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Melody is the key here as these guys have a knack for memorable tunes that grow and develop, and once again, particularly with Markovitch, often contain strains from older richer cultures.

There’s a lot of great tunes on here; “Blue Fingers” and “On the Square” mix noire jazz sax riffs with hard rock ala early King Crimson, while “Inner Monologue” displays a passionate Middle Eastern melody driven by double time percussion and “Volta“ features rapid fusion solos from both Dani and Danny. Other tunes on here can be more reflective and almost sentimental, but never overly maudlin. Wordless vocals from a variety of guests gives some of their melodies the sound of 50s exotica or early psychedelia, it’s a great effect that they use wisely without over indulgence. Possibly this CDs biggest asset is the production, “Last Chapter” has a big full sound that gives Rabin one of the strongest electric guitar sounds around. All around this is an excellent release by Marbin, but fans of Rabin’s intense, yet melodic, guitar shredding would have probably preferred more fusion and rock, and less of the sentimental tunes, which seem to dominate more towards the end of the CD.

kev rowland Guitarist Dani Rabin and saxophonist Danny Markovitch started playing together in their native Israel in 2007, then after relocating to Chicago released their debut album in 2009. This gained them a lot of critical attention and they were asked to collaborate with 7-time Grammy winner and former Pat Metheny Group drummer, Paul Wertico on his album ‘Impressions of a City’. The trio decided that they had a special chemistry together and that they wanted to keep playing and Paul brought in his former bandmate and current Pat Metheny Group bassist, Steve Rodby, to complete the line-up. What I like so much about this album is the sheer diversity of styles, and at times it is hard to comprehend that not only is it the same band but all from the same album as musically they are all over the place, which makes it fun not only for them but also to those playing the album.

Take “Mom’s Song” for example, this contains some scat vocals and is gentle and restrained, but is followed by “Bar Stomp” which is a “Minnie The Moocher” with dirty guitars and plenty of emotion. The first time I played it I had to check what I was listening to as it is just so different to what is before and what follows. There is some wonderfully distorted and fuzzed guitar and slide guitar and a laid-back feel that just brings a smile to the face. But for all the times when they swap leads, moving through lots of different styles and antics, it is the very last song on the album that I have found myself returning to. In many ways it is the simplest, and is the only other song to feature vocals, but Daniel White has a commanding presence and the arrangement provided for “Winds of Grace” is perfect. In a perfect world this acoustic ballad would be top of the charts worldwide, and the sax would be seen as providing additional class with its’ simple presence. But I guess this will just be our secret.

A wonderful album from start to the end. www.moonjune.com