Denny Zeitlin: With A Song In My Heart

     Pianist Denny Zeitlin was in grade school when his parents took him to see Oklahoma! and he was “electrified” by the music of Richard Rodgers. Zeitlin started playing jazz gigs in high school and made his first albums for Columbia in 1964. All that time, he’s been thinking about Rodgers’ music, often playing one of Rodgers’ over 900 (!) songs on gigs and on record. With A Song In My Heart offers a generous helping of Zeitlin devoting an entire program to Rodgers’ music. The first six tracks come from the 2019 edition of his solo piano appearances at Oakland’s Piedmont Piano Company, each devoted to the work of a single composer. The balance of the CD was recorded that fall in his home studio. The playing throughout is elegant in its phrasing, with the composer’s ever-lovely melodies at the forefront of Zeitlin’s inventive improvisations. While this kind of album, with so and so playing the music a particular composer, was a staple of record labels at one time, the earliest examples of the sub-genre generally have the performers staying fairly close to the song they were playing. By now, musicians feel perfectly free to reharmonize their material or give it a different feel with an unusual time signature. Thus we get a exploration of I Didn’t Know What Time It Was in 7/4, and I Have Dreamed recast as a bossa nova. Zeitlin’s carefully considered sequencing choices give the album a genuine flow. Variation in tempo from piece to piece help draw the listener along for the ride. For instance, Happy Talk really cooks, while his lengthy live exploration of Ev’rything I’ve Got simmers. The artist’s brief liner notes put each of the tunes in the context of the musicals where they first appeared, as well as pointing out musical tidbits about his arrangements. Concluding the album is a straight ahead version of the oft-played With a Song in My Heart. This exquisite rendition of this popular standard neatly sums up the session with its graceful beauty. Definitely recommended. 

Sunnyside SSC 1781; Denny Zeitlin (p); Oakland, CA, December 13, 2019* or Kentfield, CA, November & December 2019; Falling in Love With Love*/ I Didn’t Know What Time It Was*/ He Was Too Good to Me*/ Johnny One Note*/ Wait till You See Her*/ Ev’rything I’ve Got*/ This Nearly Was Mine/ Have You Met Miss Jones?/ I Have Dreamed/ Happy Talk/ With a Song in My Heart; 77:36.
sunnysiderecords.com