Denny Zeitlin: Wherever You Are: Midnight Moods for Solo Piano

Denny Zeitlin
Wherever You Are: Midnight Moods for Solo Piano
Sunnyside
2012-07-03

It’s not hard to tell from the title, but I’ll tell you anyway; Wherever You Are: Midnight Moods for Solo Piano is Denny Zeitlin’s ballad album. Holding this album side-by-side with Zeitlin’s last, Labyrinth, goes to show you just how different solo jazz piano can be. Where his last album had a brightly articulated sound, this one has the edges smoothed over. Where Labyrinth was harsh and adventurous, Wherever You Are: Midnight Moods for Solo Piano is quiet, tonal and reflective. This is pretty much what Zeitlin was going for, admitting he wanted to make an album “of all one mood.” There are eight covers mixed with two originals (featuring “I Hear a Rhapsody”, “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars/How Insensitive” and “Body and Soul), though there is little in the performances to differentiate old from the new. Insert disc, press play. Sit back, sip wine and discuss your favorite foreign film or something along those lines.

RATING 6 / 10
FROM THE POPMATTERS ARCHIVES