Siegel will be among friends in return to his hometown.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

In a sense, Dan Siegel is the opposite of the prodigal son.

Rather than taking his father's money and leaving town to squander it, he left home to seek his own fortune when Eugene proved inadequate as a launching pad for a career as a jazz instrumentalist.

Now, he's returning to the town he called home until he was almost 30. And he's reuniting with Richard Smith, who also graduated from South Eugene High School in the 1970s, for a homecoming show tonight at the Shedd.

"My dad didn't want us to be musicians," he said of the band he and his older brother played in during their youth. "I remember my first gig, I had to go out the back door.

`He eventually came around. There wasn't anything else I could do."

Siegel's parents will be in the audience, along with his many musical friends and acquaintances who have stayed in the area and local jazz enthusiasts who only know him through his many recordings.

Both of Siegel's brothers still live in Eugene. His brother Marc is one of the artistic directors for Dance Theatre of Oregon.

Now living near Los Angeles, Siegel released "Departure" this summer. He said during an interview that in his return to Eugene as part of a bass, drums, guitar and piano quartet, he will play compositions from that album and new songs from Smith.

Siegel plays keyboards, Smith the guitar.

Often lumped into the "smooth jazz" category, a genre jazz purists often look down on, Siegel said he believes "Departure" is somewhere between traditional and smooth jazz.

"I find myself there (labeled smooth jazz) by default," he said. "It's hard to escape when you are trying to be a little more serious."

Another ignominious association with smooth jazz is Muzak, or elevator music, which is guilty of turning perfectly good pop songs into groove-oriented `jazz lite.'

There are no cheesy cover tunes on "Departure." It is an all-acoustic, live-in-the-studio recording that shows off Siegel's traditional jazz background.

"What makes 'Departure' unique is that people seem afraid to do this kind of acoustic jazz these days," Siegel says in a news release. "I just love the idea of bringing in certain arrangements, but being spontaneous and open to shifting gears once you start playing."

Primarily a keyboardist, Siegel said he has done his share of commercial recording. If he had the luxury, he would focus exclusively on his own music, but with the rise of Internet and satellite radio, along with players willing to sacrifice creativity to crank out cover versions of songs on the cheap, there have been fewer avenues for serious artists to sell their albums.

Siegel worries about the undervaluing of live music as culture. He wonders whether his own children will know some of the joys he's experienced through instrumental music when synthesized, computer-generated hip-hop beats have become the norm.

"Music to me has been a great teacher in my life. It's almost my religion," Siegel said. "All you can do is have love when you're playing music. It's the essence of beauty and purity.

`You don't have to be some highbrow, socially conscious person to be moved by music. It's so universal.

`It's the language everyone can relate to."

Trio of albums had big influence

Siegel might have never gotten into jazz in the first place were it not for his friend Phil Kimmel (married to local notable Stephanie Pearl-Kimmel, owner of Marche restaurant).

Kimmel lent four albums to Siegel on his 18th birthday - Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage," Chick Corea's "Now He Sings Now He Sobs," an eponymous Bill Evans album and a Tony Williams record.

Kimmel got only the Williams album back.

"The other three were like the foundation of my experience and indoctrination into the jazz world," Siegel said. "A year later he finally said, 'Happy birthday, you can keep them.' '

` `Now He Sings Now He Sobs' was probably one of the best piano trio pieces ever recorded. It was so powerful.

`I listened to that album every day for at least a year. And I can still pull it out and listen to it today and be blown away by it."

Smith and Siegel met when Smith was still in high school. The two used to play club and restaurant gigs at places that are still jazz venues today, including the Oregon Electric Station and Jo Federigo's.

Smith also helped shape Siegel's career by urging him to go back to school to earn a master's degree. Both music educators, Smith and Siegel will hold a seminar this morning for high school and middle school students at their alma mater, South.

In part, the two plan to tell the students how to make it as professional musicians.

"You don't want to get into this business if you are a wimp," Siegel said. "I've seen it come and go. You can't take anything very personally.

`But I realize it's really a gift to be able to record and put your stuff out. And if anyone buys it, it's even greater."

CONCERT PREVIEW

Dan Siegel, Richard Smith

What: Contemporary jazz quartet that features a pair of one-time Eugene residents

When: 7:30 p.m. today

Where: Jaqua Concert Hall, John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, 285 E. Broadway

Tickets: $15 to $25