Pianist Denny Zeitlin is the perfect choice to interpret material by who he calls “jazz’s greatest living composer,” Wayne Shorter. They both are gifted at creating material that can be swinging, clever, tangential, free and explorative. Zeitlin’s advantage is that he gets an entire piano to delve into the harmonies and melodies of Shorter’s pieces, as the composer himself is limited by the linear aspects of the horn. Such as it is, this is a meeting made in heaven.
Performed at the Piedmont Piano Company, the songs of this concert have Zeitlin choosing material from mostly the 1960s, so you get much material from his solo Blue Note period and his stint with Miles Davis, producing no complaints here. His elliptical approach to the theme of “Nefertitit” keeps coming into the backroads of your mind, while “E.S.P” weaves in and out of structure with aplomb. Zeitlin does some imaginative work with rhythm during “ Paraphernalia” as he strums the piano strings like dramatic sails wafting in the sea. Zeitlin’s digital approach to the ivories allows the chords to sound like a cat about to pounce on a ball of yarn during “Ju Ju” and then let the string roll out during the solo until the final strand is exposed. He brings structure to freer pieces such as “Toy Tune” and “Speak No Evil” with a richness of harmonies that are only hinted at on the original versions. This is a session to savor for the exposure of one brilliant mind exploring another.
Sunnyside Records