Recorded in 1978
In the 1960s, Zeitlin recorded a series of LPs for Columbia as something of a wunderkind. He made his first album while attending Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Like Eddie Henderson and Art Themen, Zeitlin eventually became one of the few practicing physicians who led an active second and simultaneous career as a jazz musician.
After Zeitlin's run with Columbia was over, he released Expansion (Double-Helix, 1973), a trio album with George Marsh and Mel Graves that earned a five-star rating in Downbeat magazine. This album and others from the period took advantage of synthesizers, electronics, and sound-altering devices with acoustic instruments to create music in a variety of genres. One of the most notable of these efforts was Zeitlin's score to to the remake of the science-fiction/horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
The album at hand, Soundings, represented a return to solo piano. It's beautiful music, thoughtful, expansive, and non-traditional.
Soundings was issued on a tiny independent label, and it has remained well below the radar of most jazz fans. Sadly, it's another album that's never been reissued in any digital format. However, you can buy the LP (autographed, even) and listen to sound samples on Denny Zeitlin's website.
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