Local jazz trombonist returns home to Seattle

Of all the instruments to choose from, I can’t imagine the trombone is one of the first that jump to mind, but for Naomi Moon Siegal being a trombonist was her way of standing out.

I think it is kinda an under-sung hero, in my opinion. I started on piano, actually, and when I was 10 years old, I really wanted to play a wind instrument at school when they started offering instruments at school. I was drawn immediately by the slide and the fluid motion, and also, the tenor range really resonates with me. I find myself drawn to instruments in that lower range. I also find it more voice-like and more lyrical, and that really drew me in at a young age. I also had two older brothers who played saxophone and trumpet, so that was a factor as well.

It also helped her find her space in the world of music and at home.

“We were fortunate to have a lot of instruments in our home and have a lot of music going on. But also, music was sort of a sanctuary. I have three brothers in all an, and sometimes creating that audio space was a nice respite from all the other chaos in my home.”

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I’ve talked to a lot of musicians, with the most common interviews being with people who sing and play guitar, or wail on the drums. These instruments seem like they would be easier to express yourself with, but Savin disagrees.

“There’s the abstraction in instrumental music that you don’t have in lyrical music. Besides that, it is similar to being expressive with any other instrument. But like I said, I do think the instrument has more of these lyrical voice-like qualities that can make it sound like someone is singing, or wailing, or yelling. You can also be goofy with it too.”

Naomi Moon Siegal has returned to Washington after moving to Montana. While she enjoys the slower pace of the natural beauty of The Treasure State, her musical connections here in Seattle remain strong, with both places serving as influences for her latest album.

“My latest album Shatter the Glass Sanctuary is definetluy influenced by the landscape here (Montana). In some ways the title means, getting rid of the separation of being in a place and actually experiencing a place. I think sometimes you can be in a place but not really experience it, not really get your toes wet so to speak. I found that in my first couple years here that is what it felt like after a while, so by writing this music it was a way for me to be like hey, be here, experience this place, check it out, notice it, let it get into your body, let it get into your music.”

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On the stage, she wants to create unique experiences for the audience every night. Wherether you see one show or all four upcoming, it’s going to look and sound a bit different each night, and that’s all part of the plan. And if you want to be able to improv, you have to be able to listen.

“There’s so many ways you can go. One of the ways you mentioned was listening. We think about the act of playing music, but it really is about the act of listening. One awesome way to start is to just  start experimenting with your instrument. Let’s say you are playing a major scale, don’t play the notes in order. What happens if you play them in whatever order you want and experiment with the sounds in that way and really listen to that. Can you tell a story with those notes in a different order? I think that is a really great place to start improvising and then you can bring it into more complex song or form structures but why not start with the major scale?”

You can catch Naomi Moon Siegal and the rest of her group performing at Boxley’s in North Bend tonight and WEAVE on Bainbridge Island tomorrow and her latest album,  is available now and you can learn more about her work at her website.

Paul Holden is a producer and reporter for KIRO Newsradio.