In A Mellow Tone
Wednesday February 21st, 2018 with Bernard Stepien
West Coast Pianist Denny Zeitlin

Dennis Zeitlin grew up in Chicago and after studying psychiatry he first moved to the West Coast, in Sausalito north of San Francisco and then juggled between his day gig as a psychiatrist and his love of playing piano. Right from start he was heavily influenced by pianist Bill Evans that apparently borrowed his composition Quiet Now in return. Again, this is a case of artists disappearing from the scene for extended periods of time as if Jazz was only a hobby. He was absent during the seventies well into the ‘80s. Tonight we will survey two of his relatively recent recording, one in trio with bassist Buster Williams recorded in 2009 and one solo recording from 2011. The influences of Bill Evans have faded even if still perceptible but the music has grown stylistically even more enigmatic but certainly very proficient. After all he could have made a career playing only piano…