This recent release by pianist Denny Zeitlin made me think of the “higher criticism” of The Bible, which states that since books by Moses and Isaiah sometimes have passages with a different feel and style, they must be done by various writers, and not just one. Well, the same could be said for Zeitlin’s album, which includes three distinct styles and ideas, yet all coming from the same author. So, there you go! Next Theology lecture, please.
Anyway, the piano master Zeitlin puts together a panoply (hence the title) of three “groups”, solo piano, a duet with drummer George Marsh with the leader on a handful of keyboards and do-dads, and a straight-ahead trio with Matt Wilson/dr and Buster Williams/dr, with recordings done in 2012, 2013-23 and 2019, respectively.
In solo format, Zeitlin is relaxed and wondrous on a dynamic “Cherokee”, glorious for his own “Limburger Pie and Beeswax Crust” and gracefully rhapsodic on “ Only One”. The trio digs in and digs out of a sizzling read of “Johnny Come Lately” and Williams does some clever work around Zeitlin on the dark shadowed “Weirdo” while painting with a blue brush on “I Was Doing All Right”. The duo is the real hoot here, with Zeitlin mixing concoctions like Back In To The Future’s Dr. Brown on the playful “Excursion” and mixing Bill Evans classicism with spry splashes on “Regret, with Zeitlin using some sort of pedal for a bass line on the mischievous “Music Box”. Great Scott!