Denny Zeitlin (born April 10, 1938) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist, composer, and clinical professor of psychiatry at

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

. Since 1963, he has recorded more than 100 compositions and was a first-place winner in the ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' International Jazz Critics' Poll in 1965 and 1974. He composed the soundtrack for the 1978 science-fiction horror film ''

Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...

''.

Early life

Zeitlin was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and grew up in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. He began improvising on the piano at the age of two. His father was a radiologist who played piano by ear. His mother was a speech pathologist and his first piano teacher. He began formal study in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

at the age of six, switching to jazz in the eighth grade. In high school, he played professionally in and around Chicago, and by college at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

, was playing with

Ira Sullivan Ira Sullivan (May 1, 1931 – September 21, 2020) was an American jazz trumpeter, Flugelhorn, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist, and composer born in Washington, D.C., United States. An active musician since the 1950s, he often worked with ...

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

Joe Farrell Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name o ...

Wilbur Ware Wilbur Bernard Ware (September 8, 1923 – September 9, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 674. Oxford University Press He was a regular bassist for t ...

, and

Bob Cranshaw Melbourne Robert Cranshaw (December 3, 1932 – November 2, 2016) was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records to his recent involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long associa ...

, among others. Mentors included pianist

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...

and George Russell. Pianist

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

, an early supporter, frequently recorded Zeitlin's composition "Quiet Now" and made it the title track of a 1970 album.

Later life and career

Signed by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

's John Hammond, Zeitlin began his recording career in 1963 while studying medicine at

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

, debuting as the featured pianist on the

Jeremy Steig Jeremy Steig (September 23, 1942 – April 13, 2016)Peter Keepnews, "Jeremy ...

album ''

Flute Fever ''Flute Fever'' is the debut album by American jazz flautist Jeremy Steig released on the Columbia label in 1964.Ben Riley Benjamin Alexander Riley Jr. (July 17, 1933 – November 18, 2017) was an American jazz drummer known for his work with Thelonious Monk, as well as Alice Coltrane, Stan Getz, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and as a member of the group Sp ...

and

Ben Tucker Benjamin M. Tucker (December 13, 1930 – June 4, 2013) was an American jazz bassist who appeared on hundreds of recordings. Tucker played on albums by Art Pepper, Billy Taylor, Quincy Jones, Grant Green, Dexter Gordon, Hank Crawford, Junior Ma ...

. Zeitlin's recording debut as a leader was the album ''Cathexis'', with bassist

Cecil McBee Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of jazz albums. Biography Early life and career McBee was born in Tu ...

and drummer

Freddie Waits Frederick "Freddie" Douglas Waits (April 27, 1943 – November 18, 1989) was a hard bop and post-bop drummer. Waits never officially recorded as leader, but was a prominent member and composer in Max Roach's M'Boom percussion ensemble. He worked ...

. Zeitlin then moved to San Francisco in 1964 to intern at the

, followed by a residency. His next album was ''Carnival'', with bassist

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

and drummer

Jerry Granelli Gerald John Granelli (December 30, 1940July 20, 2021) was an American-Canadian jazz drummer. He was best known for playing drums on the soundtrack '' A Charlie Brown Christmas'' with the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Early life Granelli was born to Jack ...

. That trio had a regular gig at

The Trident The Trident () is Poseidon's(Angel Gabriel Garcia's) ridge surmounted by three peaks, the highest 1,335 m, standing at the east side of Briggs Glacier in South Georgia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The name is descriptive of the t ...

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

, and recorded Zeitlin's next album, ''Shining Hour'', there. Jazz critic

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

called Zeitlin "the most versatile young pianist to come to prominence in the early 1960s". Reflecting on Zeitlin's Columbia period, jazz historian

Ted Gioia Ted Gioia (born October 21, 1957) is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of eleven books, including ''Music: A Subversive History'', '' The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire'', ''The History of Jazz'' and ''Delta Blu ...

wrote that the pianist "had assimilated the breakthroughs of the previous decade, from the impressionism of Bill Evans to the free-fall explorations of

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

, and blended them into a personal style that anticipated the next fifteen years of keyboard advances. He stood out from the crowd for the unbridled creativity of his work, the richness of his harmonic palette, and the sheer beauty of his piano tone". Between 1968 and 1978, Zeitlin integrated

electronic keyboards An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs ...

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, and sound-altering devices with acoustic instruments, working in multiple musical genres. The results were first heard in 1969 when Zeitlin composed and performed music for the "Jazzy Spies" sequences on the first season of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'', featuring vocal overdubs by

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...

. In 1973, he released ''Expansion'', a trio album with George Marsh and Mel Graves, which ''

'' magazine awarded its highest rating.''DownBeat'', January 31, 1974. The period culminated with Zeitlin's writing the score for the 1978 remake of ''

'', which turned out to be his only film score, despite numerous subsequent offers, because of the extreme workload of many 20-plus-hour days."Denny Zeitlin: Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
YouTube video of Zeitlin describing his score. While ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'' film critic Pauline Kael thought the music occasionally overpowered the action, she called the score "generally dazzling" and a large contributor to both the humor and terror of the film. Beginning in 1978, Zeitlin focused primarily on acoustic music, continuing to play concerts internationally and recording some 22 albums. His projects included the solo album ''Soundings'', the duo album '' Time Remembers One Time Once'' with Charlie Haden, and ''Denny Zeitlin Trio in Concert'' with bassist

Buster Williams Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, working with guitarist Larry Coryell from the 1980s to present, working in th ...

and drummer Matt Wilson. Zeitlin continued to draw strong reviews. Critic Doug Ramsey wrote that "Trio in Concert", released in 2009, "catches Dr. Zeitlin, at age 70, in his musical prime and his trio afire". He recorded his 2020 album, ''Live at Mezzrow'', at age 82'',''

Dual careers

Since 1968, Zeitlin has been on the teaching faculty at the

, where he is clinical professor of psychiatry. He has a private practice in San Francisco and

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

. He had a 30-year mentorship with psychoanalyst Joseph Weiss, founder of Control Mastery Theory. Zeitlin has combined his two disciplines in a lecture and workshop entitled "Unlocking the Creative Impulse: The Psychology of Improvisation". In comparing his two careers, Zeitlin has said it would be a mistake to think that psychiatry served merely to support his passion for music, when in fact he has a passion for both. "In each setting, communication is utterly paramount. There has to be a depth of empathy that allows you to really inhabit the other person's world. It comes out as a collaborative journey in both settings."

Personal life

Zeitlin lives in

, California, is an avid mountain biker and wine aficionado, the latter interest shared with his trio. He has been married to actress Josephine Shady since 1969.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

David Friesen David Friesen (born May 6, 1942 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American jazz bassist. He plays double bass and electric upright bass. Career Friesen began playing bass while serving in the United States Army in Germany. He played with John Hand ...

, ''Other Times Other Places'' (Global Pacific, 1989) * David Friesen, ''Two for the Show'' (Summit, 2000) *

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

, '' Dawg Duos'' (Acoustic Disc, 1999) *

Jeremy Steig Jeremy Steig (September 23, 1942 – April 13, 2016)Peter Keepnews, "Jeremy ...

, ''

Flute Fever ''Flute Fever'' is the debut album by American jazz flautist Jeremy Steig released on the Columbia label in 1964.Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeitlin, Denny 1938 births Living people American film score composers American jazz pianists American male pianists Musicians from Chicago Columbia Records artists 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century American pianists American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Sunnyside Records artists Concord Records artists Windham Hill Records artists ECM Records artists