Pianist Denny Zeitlin's very first recording was for Columbia in 1963, as a sideman on Jeremy Steig's Flute Fever. His first trio leadership album, Cathexis, came next for Columbia in February 1964, with Cecil McBee on bass and Freddie Waits on drums. Carnival followed in October, with Charlie Haden on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums. By then, Denny was on the map as an innovative trio leader. [Photo above of Denny Zeitlin]
Two more trio LPs were recorded for Columbia—Shining Hour in 1965 and Zeitgeist in 1966 and 1967—with some tracks for the latter LP with Joe Halpin on bass and Oliver Johnson on drums. What's more, Bill Evans recorded Denny's composition Quiet Now in 1967 for the first time, on his album Further Conversations With Myself, for Verve, which was nominated for a Grammy. Evans continued to perform and record Denny's ballad throughout the 1960s and '70s, making it a jazz standard.
Denny has released nearly 40 albums, including his latest, With a Song in My Heart: Exploring the Music of Richard Rodgers (Sunnyside), a solo album recorded in 2019. Six of 11 tracks were performed in front of a live audience at the Piedmont Piano Company store in Oakland, Ca., while the remaining five were recorded in his Double Helix Studio at home.
It's a glorious recording that features Denny's singular approach to solo piano, rumbling seamlessly between a straight-ahead approach and the avant-garde. Denny has a way of taking songs apart while improvising and reassembling them on the fly without losing the spirit of the original. The emphasis is on harmony and explorative analysis to get to the heart of the song's essence.
His approach is a special joy for those who know the songs, since you get to hear Denny's masterful deconstruction and adventurous expressiveness with the original in mind. Through textured distillation, he tunnels to the elements of what makes a standard beautiful and timeless. This is particularly evident on Have You Met Miss Jones, I Have Dreamed and Happy Talk. There are moments on these songs and others when it seems two pianists are sitting at the keyboard, which is probably what Evans heard initially when he chose Quiet Now for his overdubbed Further Explorations.
The tracks:
- Falling in Love With Love
- I Didn't Know What Time It Was
- He Was Too Good to Me
- Johnny One Note
- Wait Till You See Her
- Everything I've Got
- This Nearly Was Mine
- Have You Met Miss Jones
- I Have Dreamed
- Happy Talk
- With a Song in My Heart
Denny's new album is jazz as it was meant to be heard: Music that makes you think and feel as you're taken on a moody journey through uncharted territory. He has never sounded better.
Note: For my interview with Denny on his composition Quiet Now, go here.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Denny Zeitlin's With a Song in My Heart: Exploring the Music of Richard Rodgers (Sunnyside) here and on major streaming sites.
JazzWax clips: Here's Have You Met Miss Jones. A masterpiece...
Here's I Have Dreamed. Gorgeous...
And here's Happy Talk. Absolutely stunning...
Bonus: Here's Denny playing his composition Quiet Now in March 1965 while recording Shining Hour...
And here's Bill Evans's first recording of the song in 1967...
