Jazz Therapy: The Denny Zeitlin Trio

Dubbed by Leonard Feather as "the most versatile young pianist to come to prominence in the early 1960's,” Denny Zeitlin is known today as “the jazz world's most visible Renaissance man” (LA Times). In addition to his part-time career as a jazz performer, composer, and improviser, Zeitlin is a practicing psychiatrist in the San Francisco Bay area. And if one considers music therapeutic, then jazz patrons are in for a significant boost to their mental health when Zeitlin takes the stage with the sublime Buster Williams on bass and high flying Matt Wilson on drums.

Born in Chicago in 1938, Zeitlin’s parents both combined medicine and music. He began playing piano as a toddler, studied classical music initially and discovered jazz in high school as a natural extension of his interests in composition and improvisation. Soon he was playing professionally in the Chicago area, where he had opportunities to sit in with Joe Farrell, Wes Montgomery, and Ira Sullivan.

He formally studied music in college, graduating from the University of Illinois in 1960 and then earning his M.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1964. After several highly acclaimed recordings for Concord, Zeitlin focused his musical efforts on fusing jazz, electronics, classical, and rock through the 1970s, leading to a number of recordings and the symphonic score for “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” in 1978.

Refocusing on acoustic music, Zeitlin turned again to solo piano work and other projects, including composing for Sesame Street; appearing on network TV (the Tonight Show and CBS Sunday Morning); touring throughout the world at colleges, clubs, and major festivals; and performing with such jazz luminaries as Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Tony Williams, Marian McPartland, Charlie Haden, the Kronos Quartet, and Paul Winter.

Meanwhile, Zeitlin also established a private psychiatric practice in San Francisco and Marin County, and teaches at the University of California. Merging his background in music and psychiatry, Zeitlin has developed a lecture-demonstration, "Unlocking the Creative Impulse: The Psychology of Improvisation,” which has been well received in the U.S. and Europe.

Wrote Jules Epstein, “[his] technical skills are abetted by his psychiatrist's understanding of spontaneity as a key to analysis—like the technique of ‘free association,’ Zeitlin approaches melody as a line to be coveted, addressed and focused on, but also as a point of departure. His particular skill is in departing without losing sight of the original thought.” High Fidelity noted, “he can rip the keyboard apart or coax the most delicate nuances from it with a virtuoso's assurance. And it is done not as showmanship, but as a means to a distinctly creative end.”

On his current tour, Zeitlin teams up with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson, with whom he just released his latest trio recording, Slickrock (Maxjazz). Buster Williams needs no introduction to Twin Cities’ jazz fans, having appeared at the Dakota a number of times, most recently in April with his stellar quartet, “Something More.” One of the busiest bassists working today, Williams is admired for what the Penguin Guide describes as his “impeccable harmony” and “rhythmic sense that is unfailing, feeling, and utterly original.” His sets in April were (as always) marked by his elegant and melodic lines, his ability to dazzle without calling attention to the effort.

One of the most in-demand, creative drummers of his generation, Matt Wilson at 39 has a wide range of musical tastes and experiences. He was first attracted to the drums after watching Buddy Rich on “I Love Lucy.” Following his childhood in rural Illinois and college days in Wichita, Wilson landed in Boston, playing with the Either/Orchestra, Charlie Kohlhase, and John Medeski. Moving to New York, he formed his own quartet and joined forces with such talents as Dewey Redman, Janis Siegal, Cecil McBee, Leni Stern, Fred Hersch, Michael Brecker, Ravi Coltrane, Lee Konitz, and Joanne Brackeen, and has appeared on dozens of recordings as leader and sideman.

In his review of Slickrock, Don Williamson notes, “Beyond the exquisite piano playing…it becomes apparent that Williams and Wilson are entirely engaged in the music. Williams’ bass lines are solid with buoyancy that sustains the motion. Wilson spontaneously captures the textures of Zeitlin’s music and heightens them through the sensitive extension of tones with lightly shimmering cymbal work or driving malleting…In other words, the trio plays as a cohesive unit as Zeitlin’s virtuosity spurs Williams and Wilson to a state of intense focus.”

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