Denny Zeitlin is the greatest unsung modern pianist jazz has ever produced. His daily occupation as a psychotherapist keeps him close to home in Northern California, but he occasionally steps out with a concert performance or very worthwhile recording. On this CD, done at the
Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles or the
Outpost in Albuquerque, you get the best of both with professional musicians like bassist
Buster Williams and drummer
Matt Wilson. Usually heard solo or in duets, we should be happy
Zeitlin's trio hits on all cylinders of passion, literacy, brilliant inventive musicianship, and teamwork to offer a set of music that should please anyone who enjoys original jazz keyboard works without compromise. What is telling in the construct of
Zeitlin's melodies, reharmonizations, and solos is that he is always interesting without being flashy or bound to cliches. He has his own voice on his instrument, an admirable quality very few can claim. To "facilitate airplay,"
Zeitlin splits
"Mr P.C." in two shorter parts, the first portion a furiously fast paced blow out with harmonic add ons and a solo break motivated by stride implications, the second an easier swing with bass and drum solos. He also apportions the near-20-minute medley of the standard
"The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" in improvised and open, completed phrases with his pensive original
"10,000 Eyes" with no real paraphrasing or reduced value between the two. When
Zeitlin plays a ballad such as
"The We of Us," the melody is again advanced instead of sublimated, while the standard
"All of You" is revised and reharmonized many times over.
Zeitlin's greatest artistic achievement, his Zen-like musings, come full circle during the complex
"Prime Times" where endless ideas tumble like streams of consciousness. The
David Friesen composition
"Signs & Wonders" starts with
Zeitlin's atypically zinged strings and arpeggios leading to a free discourse without
Wilson, then to swing in two-fisted chordal punctuations and rumblings. The expert backing of
Williams and
Wilson allows the pianist great freedom to play any way he wants, and the result is an incredibly diverse program within the tried and true piano-bass-drums format. That
Denny Zeitlin gets better and better with the passage of time is not surprising. That he is as great as any in contemporary jazz -- and that includes
Keith Jarrett or
Chick Corea -- should be a well kept secret no longer. You'd be well advised to pick up this extraordinary live date, and his other live trio CD for the
Venus label, as well as his reissued recordings for
Columbia records from the
Mosaic series. ~ Michael G. Nastos
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