Recorded during a 2009 concert at Dizzy’s Coca Cola, Denny Zeitlin’s trio with Matt Wilson/dr and Buster Williams/b delivers a textbook example of interplay, teamwork and swing that should be used in many a music school. The material is all from previous studio recordings, so the focus here is on bringing fresh ideas, spontaneous soloing and intuitive communication, and it’s delivered in spades.
Zeitlin has a rich and personal touch that gives hints of Bill Evans romanticism, but it’s all his own as on a classy and sublime “All of You” and richly romantic “Put Your Little Right Foot Out” as his warm and ectomorphic reach delivers both clever harmonies and erudite solos. Williams is palpably rich on his solo intro to “Signs and Wonders’ while he produces a runner’s pulse to Wilson’s ride cymbal on “As Long As There’s Music.”
The three part “Slick Rock” goes from moody and eerie Wilsonian creations to some hip rumbling between bass and drums with Zeitlin veering in like a pedestrian rushing through sidewalk traffic while the three deliver a frantic charge during the finale. Rich three way conversations are in abundance as on “There and Back” and the closing “Signs and Wonders” trickles like waters down a cliff. Fresh as a watercolor portrait.