Jazz has always had
renaissance men: Duke Ellington and Miles Davis were visual artists of universal
renown. Milt Hinton was a spectacular photographer. And Billy Taylor is an
accomplished author. Pianist, composer, educator, psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin
the composer of the jazz standard Quiet Now, and an artist with more than
sixteen recordings as a leader who has worked and recorded with everybody, from
Charlie Haden and Herbie Hancock to Pat Metheny makes his Sunnyside debut with
his release, In Concert, featuring bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt
Wilson.
The CD's nine tracks were
recorded at L.A.'s Jazz Bakery, and The Outpost Performance Space in
Albuquerque, N.M., from 2001 to 2006. For the seventy-year-old Zeitlin, this
delightful aural document his first since his 2004 Maxx Jazz release Slickrock,
also with Williams, and Wilson captures the full range of his profound,
penetrating, and propulsive pianism in simpatico with William's anchor-sure
basslines and Wilson's articulate and angular drumming. Their soulful and
syncopated synchronicity reinvigorates the CD's four standards. John Coltrane's
Mr. P.C. is delivered at a breakneck pace on a 24-bar minor blues form, with
Zeitlin's fleet-fingered unaccompanied solo crossing blues and free boundaries.
I was galvanized by Coltrane's music as I was developing my approach in high
school and college, Zeitlin writes on the CD liner notes, and Giant Steps was a
favorite LP.
The Jerome Brainer/Buddy
Bernier chestnut, The Night Has 1000 Eyes/10,000 Eyes, highlights Zeitlin's
limitless ability to recompose a tune; in this case, by adding catchy vamps. I've
reworked this piece so extensively, adding several new sections, that I
announce it as The Night Has 10,000 Eyes when we perform, Zeitlin writes. Cole
Porter's 'All of You' is also rendered with a new melodic lease on life This is
one of my all-time favorite standards, and I have extensively re-harmonized it,
hopefully retaining the core of the song, Zeitlin writes. We have played this
arrangement for years, and the structure seems endlessly intriguing... I love
the relaxed groove the trio gets, and Buster and Matt's solidity and
flexibility allow me to bend and stretch the time, and drape improvisatory
lines over the bars into new territory.
The rest unveils that new
territory explored by Zeitlin and company with five original compositions. The
leader's 'The We in Us' is a wistful Bill Evans-like opus written for his wife
in celebration of their anniversary, contrasted by Zeitlin s Ornette
Coleman-ish, funk-finessed Prime Times, that orbits around 5/4 and 7/4 time.
Buster Williams moving and Mingusonian solo, Bass Prelude sets the sonic stage
for Zeitlin and company s treatment of David Friesen's 'Signs & Wonders'.
This is my favorite David Friesen composition, a minor bluesy 16-bar shuffle
that begins mysteriously and impressionistically, and develops tremendous drive
and groove, Zeitlin writes. We frequently end concerts with this piece, and it
closes out this album. ~ Amazon.com.
Sunnyside Communications, SSC
1206, 2009
#3,4,6,8,9: Outpost
Performance Space, Albuquerque, December 2004
#1,2,7: Jazz Bakery, Los
Angeles, California, November 2006
#5: Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles,
California, November 2001
Musicians:
Denny Zeitlin - Piano
Buster Williams - Bass
Matt Wilson - Drums
Tracks:
1. Mr. P.C. Part 1 {John
Coltrane} (5:55)
2. Mr. P.C. Part 2 {John
Coltrane} (6:52)
3. The Night Has 1000 Eyes
/10,000 Eyes Part 1 {Bernier, Brainin/Zeitlin} (11:37)
4. The Night Has 1000 Eyes
/10,000 Eyes Part 2 {Bernier, Brainin/Zeitlin} (7:57)
5. The We Of Us {Denny
Zeitlin} (7:03)
6. All Of You {Cole Porter}
(11:28)
7. Prime Times {Denny
Zeitlin} (9:56)
8. Bass Prelude {Buster
Williams} (4:35)
9. Signs And Wonders {David
Friesen} (6:48)
Total Time: 72:11
Credits:
Producer, Arranger - Denny
Zeitlin
Recording & Mixing
Engineer - Stephen Schmidt [Outpost]
Recording & Mixing
Engineer - Drew Daniels [Jazz Bakery]
Additional Mixing &
Mastering - Drew Daniels, Denny Zeitlin
Photography - Josephine
Zeitlin
Graphic Design - Christopher Drukker
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)