The release of this album coinciding with the blockbuster movie of the same name, Odyssey (Sunnyside Records) does much to demonstrate how the music career of pianist Denny Zeitlin has been, well, an odyssey. In the late 60s, Zeitlin along with percussionist George Marsh and the late bassist Mel Graves were blazing trails within the just-emerging electro-acoustic and fusion forms of jazz. But Zeitlin has also crafted a reputation as one of the most advanced pianists in the straight-ahead realm of jazz over the last sixty years. Odyssey pulls together more recent recordings of various combinations of this trio in more recent times, caught on tape at various dates, with Zeitlin alternately revisiting those experiments and leaving the electronics behind and sticking to piano.
Thus, Odyssey can be thought of as a continuation of Panoply (2024), another hodgepodge collection of recordings from different times, with different lineups. The major distinction here is that Marsh and Graves are the only other musicians present.
The all-acoustic, 21st century version of the Zeitlin/Marsh/Graves combination captured in a 2003 concert wasn’t trying to blaze new trails in jazz but the fire to make something dynamic remains. They tackle standards on this record’s first two tracks but these aren’t sleepy renditions. “It Could Happen To You” is re-harmonized with some quality chord substitutions, visiting the theme just enough to let you recognize the song and otherwise taking you on a journey you’re not sure where it will take you but you’re willing to go on, anyway.
The same could be said about “Body And Soul,” and even though the ballad form is retained, Marsh and Graves are crackling, refusing to let this become a lullaby.
The next three tracks find Zeitlin playing Cole Porter tunes alone on piano. “I Love You” is lively nearly to McCoy Tyner proportions and again he reinvents the song without losing the core of the melody. By contrast, the timeless strain of “Night And Day” is given a delicate and sensitive treatment.
“It Was Just One Of Those Things” hold interest throughout its twelve minutes because Zeitlin uses varying tempos and tests out several variations on the theme, turning the song into something like a suite.
A sharp turn is taken for remaining seven tracks. All of these compositions were instantly created in the studio by Zeitlin and Marsh and can be thought of as a direct continuation of those electro-acoustic experiments from the psychedelic era (more of these collaborations between the two can be found on Panoply).
Despite this being two-man improvisation pieces, there’s nothing disorganized or dissonant about them; some passages could even pass as carefully scored soundtrack pieces.
Using software, Zeitlin ably simulates acoustic guitar and an orchestral backing for “Search,” all while conjuring it up as he goes. The sounds of bass and mandolin set to Marsh’s swing forms the makeup of “Game On!”
Zeitlin doesn’t introduce electronic accoutrements on “Conclave” until almost halfway through, adding a lush, melodic heft to a diffused and abstract pattern, making explicit what he suggested earlier.
“Armageddon” dives fully into ambient electronica but Marsh’s meticulous drum work adds a critical human element to the proceedings. “Mutation” is an excursion into avant-classical, accentuated by a convincing faux bowed bass/cello.
There are many, interesting sides to Denny Zeitlin and there are a lot of those sides to savor on Odyssey. The decades-long rapport with George Marsh and Mel Graves along with the elite keyboard mastery of Zeitlin are constants through it all.
Odyssey is available now, and one place to obtain it is from Bandcamp.
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