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For several years, I withdrew from public performance to research possibilities
in electronic music, hire engineers to build sound-altering equipment,
modify existing keyboards and synthesizers, build systems and racks, and
find kindred musical spirits. What emerged was an evolving set-up that
looked like a 747 cockpit of 7+ keyboards and synths, myriad processors
and pedals, what seemed like miles of connectors, and a multi-year association
with George Marsh, drums, and Mel Graves, bass. George is a true original,
comfortable with all genres and time signatures, and Mel rapidly added
the Fender Bass to his mastery of the acoustic bass. The music was tremendously
exciting and continued to grow, as we performed on the West Coast.
Although the people I contacted at a number of labels personally appreciated this new music and recognized its innovative nature, they felt their companies had no established marketing conduit. So it was left for me to release it myself in 1970, on Double Helix Records. Commonplace in the 21st Century, it was quite unusual back then. Primarily available by mail order, “Expansion” garnered enough listeners and acclaim to interest Tom Buckner of 1750 Arch Records in acquiring it in ’73.
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Critical Acclaim:
DOWNBEAT: “…***** [Highest Rating]…a masterpiece.”
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: “…the single most impressive
wedding of electronic and
acoustic elements…”
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: “…surely the most
important group to emerge
in San Francisco since 1965…the effect combines the best of outer
space and Oscar Peterson—swirling, blinding, transcendent sounds
which are bound together like dogs in heat; sometimes shooting off like
flares amok, sometimes playing straight, strong swinging jazz lines with
all the psychedelia of the Count Basie band. It is demanding, exhausting,
and most of all, exciting music. “
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER: “…Stop, go, and
listen! Denny Zeitlin is back in
circulation—watch out! Zeitlin, always an experimenter, always restless
and probing…an hour with this trio is an unbelievable and unworldly
safari into sound and space interrelationships.”
CHICAGO READER: “…he has added exquisite
expertise on clavinet, synthesizer, electric piano and organ to his already
mammoth piano talents. And his imagination , too, has expanded, so that
his endless inventions soar above and beyond his previous albums…he
has taken an enormous first step in tearing down the barriers between
acoustic and electric instruments…he controls a veritable orchestra
of colors and textures, all combined into the unified whole of his musical
conception…of course, even a fingertip filharmonic has a few gaps,
and these are wonderfully filled by the remaining members of Denny’s
current trio…there is an incredible amount of energy crammed within
these grooves…”
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 “Syzygy” followed in 1977, with George on
drums, and a wunderkind named Ratso Harris
on bass. In addition to the trio music, Tom Buckner, a superb avant-garde
tenor, sings on one track, and another is an extended free improvisation
adding the exuberant free spirit of Rich Fudoli on tenor sax and flute.
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SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: “Extraordinary in range, electrifying in its flow and sweep, perfection itself in the brilliance of its musicianship.”
BAY AREA MUSIC MAGAZINE (BAM): “A masterful offering from one of our most consistently inventive artists.”
BAY GUARDIAN: “Zeitlin is perhaps the foremost keyboard man anywhere.”
DOWNBEAT: “Zeitlin was a pioneer of the early fusion movement…he manages to achieve a sense of emotional spontaneity within his chosen dialect that marks him as an original on his own terms.”
CONTEMPORARY KEYBOARD: “…consistency of musical vision…Zeitlin’s eye never falters…highly recommended.”
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In
1978 I had the opportunity to bring together everything I had learned
in this decade of exploration and integration. Phillip Kaufman invited
me to create the score for his remake of the 1956 classic science fiction
horror film “Invasion of
the Body Snatchers.” Phil’s initial idea of a
jazz-focused score morphed into a full-blown 20th century orchestral acoustic-electronic-avant
garde project with my writing for a full symphony orchestra, performing
in small groups, and multi-track soloing in my studio among my array of
acoustic and electronic instruments, creating organic but unearthly sounds.
It was utterly exhilarating and exhausting—ten weeks of round-the-clock
work, and by the time the project was complete, and a soundtrack LP on
United Artists released, I was clear that “once was enough”
and declined subsequent opportunities. No musical project had ever torn
me away so completely from my life as a psychiatrist and husband. Readers
interested in more details of the challenges of creating film music can
check out my thirty minute audio interview that is part of the CD re-issue
package on Perseverance Records.
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Critical Acclaim:
PHILIP KAUFMAN, Director: "The Music is, to my mind, one of the best scores that I've ever worked with, and I thinnk one of the best scores I can recall on film."
The New Yorker, Pauline Kael: "...dazzling score...the music is a large contributor to the jokes and terrors."
San Francisco Chronicle, John Wasserman: "And always, the music of Zeitlin -- shrieking, moaning, rumbling, sinister – an Academy Award nominee job if there is any justice (hah!); a full partner in the tension that suffuses the picture. Dr. Zeitlin is, of course, the Marin County jazz pianist, composer and psychiatrist whose work with synthesizers and multiple keyboards predated the fashionable “fusion” music of today. This is his first film soundtrack (Kaufman fought long and hard on his behalf), and he employs his many skills – musical, electronic, psychiatric – to chilling effect…hunching over his beloved synthesizers and percussive instruments he becomes a mad alchemist who really does discover the formula for creating gold. Perhaps a third of the music was recorded by Denny alone, using multitrack over dubbing, and anothet third features him playing keyboards with a symphony orchestra. This is a rare soundtrack album I’d play to obtain (United Artists).”
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