One of the most under-appreciated living pianists, the good doctor Denny Zeitlin puts the great American Songbook on the couch, eschews the group therapy of his regular trio and does solo analysis of nocturnal pieces such as “Las Night When We Were Young” and “The Dream is Yours.” You could easily have a field day figuring out the link between the titles of these songs through the ears of a psychiatrist such as Dr. Z. In fact, the tunes all do seem to connect to each other; as soon as “Goodbye” fades away into the night, the gentle chimes of “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars/How Insensitive” gently rise like a sliver of a moon. Zeitlin’s touch and exploratory skills on these pieces feel like gentle rabbit trails during a conversation, slowly drifting away from the main point, creating a new main point, and then returning to what we were talking about originally. Lot’s to learn about sounds and thoughts on this ruminating release.
Sunnyside Records
www.dennyzeitlin.com