Marbin: The Art Photography of Tré
Israel-born, Chicago-based Marbin plays a mind-bending mix of psych-, prog- and rock-inflected jazz, honed over more than 1,000 live dates since the band landed in the U.S. in 2011. The brainchild of guitarist Dani Rabin and saxophonist Danny Marckovitch, Marbin has been evolving its non-vocal fusion music for the better part of a decade, deploying jagged, tenacious instrumentals to communicate stories in sound to a diverse and growing fan base.
Marbin has put out an audacious seven albums of new music since 2009, and two “More and More” compilations just in the last year. The band’s latest, “Israeli Jazz,” dauntingly threads blues influences through Marbin’s trademark technical proficiency on the title track and the 10-minute “Pirate Punch.”
The scholarship in the playing also comes across in dozens of Facebook band instructional videos, most focusing on Rabin’s notably noodly style of guitar, which seamlessly toggles between fast-paced shredding and melodic patterns. In an interview with PureHoney, Rabin offers a characteristically learned definition of fusion: “I think it’s a kind of music that has the same exact process as jazz but adopted the sonic texture of rock and abandoned the swing groove as a default.”
Regarding his affinity for teaching, Rabin explains matter-of-factly, “I guess for me it all started from being fat when I was a kid. It makes you want to show people something you know or do, rather than what they see when they look at you. After I became good at what I do, teaching became as natural as playing because all it is, is verbalizing a process.
“How’s that for honest?” Rabin says.
You’d be right to infer from Marbin’s intricate, individualized sound and Rabin’s unvarnished takes that these guys haven’t sought anyone’s counsel but their own on career matters. Asked what he thinks about the music industry, Rabin says, “I never met it.
“All I saw,” he continues, “was a few rich hot girls, rappers and county stars in magazines and a few management companies that turned scamming bands into a business.”
His parting bit of advice is also his experience: “If you want to get something done, do it yourself.”
Marbin performs Feb. 1 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach w Ben Delaurentis and VTF Project, $5 advance-$10 dos. marbinmusic.bandcamp.com ~ Freddie Zandt
