Siegel was born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in
Eugene, Oregon. When he was eight years old, he began piano lessons, and at 12 he was performing professionally in a rock band. He went to the
Berklee College of Music in
Boston, then studied at the
University of Oregon. After college, he started recording his own compositions. He signed with the jazz record label
Inner City Records and recorded his first album,
Nite Ride (1980). His second album,
The Hot Spot (1982), reached the top 10 of the jazz chart in
Billboard magazine. He moved to
Los Angeles and composed music for movies and television. In 1986, he signed with
Epic Records and released a series of
smooth jazz albums. In parallel he produced and recorded three albums with the fusion/mainstream band Birds of a Feather—
Birds of a Feather,
Above the Clouds, and
Stand Together—and released the self-titled album by the band Future Prospect. ==Television and film work==