Marbin Doubleheader in Virginia:(Fueled By Chipotle)

Marbin Doubleheader in Virginia:(Fueled By Chipotle Tour 2018)
 
It is always an extreme pleasure to see and hear my friends, Marbin perform. With the recent album release of 'Israeli Jazz,' the band seems to be heading toward a seminal era and represents a change of sound structure from this high-powered fusion foursome. Marbin continues to grow and evolve, taking influence from their past experiences. Somewhere out in the far reaches of Blues, Fusion and Progressive-Rock, Marbin immediately caught my attention two years ago with their social media movement and have since become fast friends of JBP.
 
Marbin returned to the Golden Pony in Harrisonburg, Virginia, followed by a great performance at Five Points Music Sanctuary in Roanoke, Virginia. This Virginia doubleheader would see much the same setlists but with variations in improvisation including, solos and intros and codas that were transient and new. I will do my best to touch on most of the songs played in both performances but If I miss a few, please just check out Marbin live in a town near you; they play many small towns and cities alike.
 
The first song of the review is a new one, "Itchy Bun (Bum)" a very Zappa-like song with a long melodic introduction and sounds, as if, it could be found off "The Grand Wazoo" album. Dani Rabin, charismatic leader and guitarist, would go on to tell the story of "Itchy Bun (Bum),” in a segment called, "story time." While most instrumental bands come up with some random ethereal song title, like "Flowing Waters" or "Cosmic Vibrations," Marbin focuses on retelling strange occurrences and wild occasions that have happened to them on tour. "Itchy Bun (Bum)" is simply referring to two bulldogs wiping their ass on Dani's sleeping mat in some dirty ass house after a show. 
 
"African Shabtay" included the albums long introduction and is still one of my favorite Marbin compositions of all time. This performance would see a great solo from Jon Nadel and his fret-to-fretless bass guitar. Jon Nadel has come into his own over the last two years and seems much more comfortable on stage, finding his groove musically and dancing with the rhythm.
 
"The Old Ways" was haunting and wild, like the ghost of ancestors creeping around some ancient cemetery at midnight. This is the opening track off 'Israeli Jazz' and for good reason. It sets a perfect tone for strange and eerie album.
 
"Redline" another one of my favorite Marbin classics, is always high energy and gets better every time they play it. Blake Jiracek's drumming is blistering and savage; I believe he has grown exponentially as a drummer and has also become quite the rhythmic percussionist, letting some of that angst out on the drums.
 
"Fisticuffs" takes place in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; a small town which reminds one of "Tuscany but with a bucket of myth of thrown on top of it." This song tells the delightful story of a town drunkard and a brawl for the honor of Marbin. 
 
Danny Markovitch remains the mind behind the band, constantly contemplating it all, side stage when he is not shredding the horn. Dani and Danny complement and juxtapose one another fluidly, they are always on point, razor-sharp with immaculate technique; this is like the Olympics of fusion playing.
 
Round two at my favorite venue in Virginia, Five Points Music Sanctuary where it’s always a serious pleasure to see any band but really awesome to see Marbin. I spent a lot of the time upstairs in the balcony for this performance, where the sound was immaculate and the full light show suited Marbin very well. There was a good turnout for the band and they rounded through many of the same songs from the night before but always improvising during solos and keeping the energy fresh and exciting.
 
Five Points Music Sanctuary is a great place for Marbin to express themselves musically and I will be heading down to Five Points again, for Ghost Light on April 19, featuring, Tom Hamilton and Holly Bowling. And then it's on to moe. at Downtown By Downtown festival on April 21st! 
 
For more on Marbin check them out here http://www.marbinmusic.com/ and I hope to be doing an album review for 'Israeli Jazz' although, I have been hearing these songs for over a year now. Perhaps one day Marbin and I will have some wild adventures and they will write a song about it. Here's to many more Jam Band Purist and Marbin collaborations.

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