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The simultaneous release of two titles documenting the early and present day music of pianist/composer Denny Zeitlin refocuses attention on one of music's most interesting instrumentalists... an individual the Los Angeles Times has appropriately portrayed as "the jazz world's most visible Renaissance man."

Zeitlin, who has productively pursued a dual career as an internationally acclaimed performing and recording jazz pianist/composer and award-winning practicing psychiatrist/medical school professor for the past 45 years, possesses two ostensibly disparate qualities — assertiveness and sensitivity — that have fueled the highest level of success in both of his chosen fields.

"I believe my most creative level of psychotherapy and musical expression occurs when I am able to trust that I will be able to bring to bear everything I have learned while simultaneously allowing myself to become 'one' with the activity — to merge with the music, the musicians, or the patient and his psychological life," says Zeitlin.

The Columbia Studio Trio Sessions (Mosaic Select MS034; street date February 2009) opens with Zeitlin's first of over 30 albums, "Cathexis" (featuring bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Freddie Waits). In Nat Hentoff's liner notes, Zeitlin states, "I'm hoping to be able to continue to evolve towards a personal music that looks to the future without being unmindful of the past; to find ways of making the elements of the vast musical universe compatible in my playing, without becoming limited to any one stylistic 'bag'; and to communicate this music as honestly and effectively as I can to the interested listener."

In his liner notes to "Cathexis," Hentoff notes he was "struck by Zeitlin's freshness of conception, his crisp technical assurance, and his highly personal fusion of lyricism and drive…"

Developing an Idiosyncratic Style in Jazz

Zeitlin continued to document his developing idiosyncratic style (influenced by Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, George Russell, Bill Evans, and modern classical music) with Columbia Records over the next three years. This produced two more studio recordings: "Carnival" (featuring Charlie Haden and Jerry Granelli) and "Zeitgeist" (with Haden, Granelli, Joe Halpin and Oliver Johnson splitting the rhythm section). These are included in the three-CD Mosaic package, along with a full hour of previously unreleased compositions from all three dates (the critically acclaimed "Shining Hour: Live At The Trident" is slated for future reissue on the label).

The music on these albums, along with music for "Sesame Street," appearances on network TV, and major jazz festival performances, brought Zeitlin much attention, leading Leonard Feather to describe him in his "Encyclopedia of Jazz" as "the most versatile young pianist to come to prominence in the early 1960's."

In the intervening 45 years between the recording of Columbia's "Cathexis" and the release of "Trio In Concert" on Sunnyside Records, Zeitlin explored music in a variety of settings. His seventies' recordings on the 1750 Arch label found him pioneering an integration of jazz, electronics, classical and rock music, culminating in the 1978 electronic-acoustic symphonic score for the film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

Subsequently, Zeitlin returned to a primary focus on acoustic music. The eighties and nineties were filled with solo projects, duo collaborations with bassists Haden and David Friesen, and more trio recording, on labels such as ECM, Windham Hill Jazz, and Concord. In a 1998 recording, "As Long As There's Music," produced by Todd Barkan for the piano oriented Japanese Venus label, Zeitlin loved playing with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Al Foster for the first time. When Foster was unavailable to join Buster for a 2001 West Coast tour, the pianist invited the highly recommended drummer Matt Wilson.

"Excitement, Groove, Respect and Collaboration"

The Williams/Wilson team has remained Zeitlin's regular rhythm section ever since, recording again with him on 2004's "Slickrock" for MaxJazz (the label which later released his brilliant "Solo Voyage"). 

"From the first moment, there was excitement, a tremendous groove, mutual respect and collaboration, and an eagerness to explore new territory," the pianist says in praise of his colleagues. "Over the past seven years we have performed at major festivals, jazz clubs, and concert venues. I have treasured the opportunity to work with Buster and Matt, and each time, even if it has been months since we last played, the music just takes off, and we find ourselves bringing out the best in each other. They both are at the pinnacle of their instruments in every respect. I find it wonderfully easy to lose myself, and often feel totally merged with the music, unaware of where specific sounds are coming from."

This sound of confluence among three players devoted to making music of the highest order is documented on "Denny Zeitlin Trio In Concert," the leader's debut release for Sunnyside Records. The album is culled from three live sessions, two recorded at Los Angeles' famed Jazz Bakery, the other from New Mexico's Outpost Performance Space.

The music resonates with creativity informed by a love and knowledge of the jazz tradition in all its permutations, integrated with the worlds of funk and modern classical music. Zeitlin's virtuosity, tempered by good taste, serves him admirably in his interpretations of compositions by Coltrane and Cole Porter, as well as in the trio's explorations of his own original compositions.

Now in his seventieth year, Zeitlin still approaches his music with the sense of wonderment and love of improvisation that first drew him to jazz over half a century ago. His work as a psychiatrist has afforded him much more than a comfortable lifestyle – it has aided him ineffably in his development of a life philosophy that is clearly evident in his music. 

"In each setting, communication is utterly paramount," he told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2004. "There has to be a depth of empathy that allows you to really inhabit the other person's world. It comes out as a collaborative journey in both settings."