"One thing you can't dispute is Dan Siegel's serious dedication to the art of music. This is his life we're talking about. Composition, technique and performance are all equally important for different reasons to Siegel."

"Throughout the years, album after album, Siegel's musical expressions have sustained his audience and continue to draw more into the fold."

"A creator, an innovator, not a duplicator, Dan Siegel proves himself a master of multi-keyboard moods along with a sophisticated composition of rich, intricate jazz melodies."

"A quiet giant in the music industry, Siegel is one of the most respected and accomplished artists in contemporary jazz."

"But every now and again, there comes an artist who has a magic formula that hits on all the cylinders of conveyance and interpretation."

"Dan could be one of the few remaining artists of his generation who has chosen not to compromise his approach to jazz for the sake of commercialization."

"Departure has all the characteristics of jazz that is not often heard in these days of what not to expect."

"Throughout the CD, there is a strong sense of purpose to make a positive statement for jazz without compromising the integrity of the music for the sake of neutrality."

"In many ways, Dan Siegel epitomizes the idea of doing everything correct to get his message across."

"In an age when recording artists often sell out their true artistic vision to the ever homogenized demands of the commercial marketplace, it's refreshing to see a veteran performer like Dan Siegel — over 25 years into one of contemporary Jazz's most storied careers — take a full throttle approach to record the album of his dreams."

"This CD is graceful, noble and reflective, since it transcends categorization as it speaks to earlier times of adult instrumental acoustic music with classic themes that were influenced by the song, its melodies, and its virtuosic musicians."

"Dan Siegel is a multitalented individual with a long list of artistic accomplishments. A composer, arranger, producer and noted keyboardist, Siegel is a star of long standing in contemporary jazz. Yet his mastery has too often been under appreciated, perhaps because of the disarming effortlessness of his work."

Dan Siegel /Departure

Jazziz Magazine Critics Choice Top 10 Discs for 2006

Across the Sea from the album Departure

JazzTrax Top 10 Songs of 2006

Dan Siegel/Departure

Smoothjazz.com Top 10 CD picks for 2006

"But what is important for the listener is not how Siegel's music is categorized — be it melodic-jazz, pop-jazz, fusion or pop-instrumental. What is important is that it is discernibly very beautiful music."

"For Siegel, the success of his albums is not necessarily measured by sales figures because the genre he has chosen is not necessarily geared for a lot of people and jazz has never been considered mainstream."

"The result is Hemispheres, one of the most original and intriguing discs of this or any other year.

"Get ready for a sweeping statement: this album is the most beautiful record I have heard all year. It is both simple and complex, involving and relaxing, comforting yet inspiring. Deceptive in its pop/jazz simplicity, it always flows on, with an atmospheric cohesiveness that makes it much more than just a collection of songs."

"This may be the best keyboard-oriented fusion LP we've heard all year."

"Siegel, on this album, "Another Time, Another Place", revealed to us an instrumental work of astonishing beauty and lyrical, majestic melodies — it was the "New Age" equivalent of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, filled with electronic layers and intricate interplay between Siegel, his percussionists and bassist."

"His songs suggest great attention to theory and form and that even great improvisation start with structure."

"Feelin' Happy is one of the best songs — by any artist in any musical genre — you'll hear this year."

"He then mesmerized the crowd with an untitled piano/synth solo before breaking into the haunting, wistful melody of Rhapsody. It is during these moments, with Siegel hunched over his keyboards, lost in an amazing world of creative passion, that he reaffirms his place in the hearts of his audience."

"Next came keyboardist Siegel, who has to be one of the finest composers of the genre."

"His work is too electrifying to call it jazz, too innovative to call it rock and too good to let it go undiscovered."

"Siegel himself is a consummate and comprehensive musician. His charts are clever and understated, as is his playing. He makes an authoritative if low-key host."

"Siegel has drawn upon his diverse musical background, incorporating contrasting elements from a wide range of musical styles, to once again expand the horizons of the jazz/pop format without sacrificing musical integrity."

"Dan Siegel's bewitching compositions have been one of the most important building blocks in the history of jazz music."