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MXJ 213

MXJ 213 Cover
DENNY ZEITLIN

SOLO VOYAGE

While I love the interaction in group music, there is something very special about being alone, and solely responsible for what emerges.   I try to stay out of the way, and trust that my unconscious will guide me to the compositional integrity I seek.   This is a very personal form of expression, but simultaneously involves a reaching out to you, the listener.   I hope this music will resonate, and that you will be taken on a journey that unfolds in a natural way.



“Solo Voyage” comprises half of the CD - a suite of jazz and songbook standards, originals, and free improvisation interludes that I created for one of my oldest and closest friends, Bill Young.   Bill was a good drummer and an even better entrepreneur who presided over Chicago's top commercial music production company for many decades, providing countless hours of work for Chicago musicians.   He was also a fine father and husband, and a great friend of mine for over 50 years.   Bill's life was drawing to a close after a long and courageous battle with cancer.   He was home on hospice care, and above all, wanted a peaceful, contemplative ending.

I wanted this music to aid reflection; to quietly inspire him; to perhaps offer something transcendent.   Most of all, I wanted to ease his final journey, a solo voyage in the company of loving family and friends.   The acoustic piano is at the core of the suite, with some synthesizer orchestration.   On a Wednesday night, in the process of recording, I learned from Bill's wife, Denise, that he had taken a turn for the worse.   It was quite possible that he might not survive until my arrival in Chicago on Friday.   I stayed up all night, finished the suite, and got the CD to FedEx on Thursday.   It arrived Friday morning, and I learned that Bill had heard it and been touched by it before he slipped into the final coma in which I found him when I arrived that night.   Although this music was an intensely personal good-bye gift to a dear friend, I believe Bill would have felt good about sharing it.

I hope the suite will be heard in its entirety, but as an aid to radio play and for listeners who may want to hear certain pieces, I have divided the suite into 8 sections that can be selected separately or allowed to play seamlessly.
— Denny


TRACK LISTING

01 BEMSHA SWING       4:47
     Thelonious Monk, Denzil Best

02 MIYAKO       5:38
     Wayne Shorter

03 CASCADE       8:50
     Denny Zeitlin

04 QUIET NOW       12:11
     Denny Zeitlin

05 WALKING, PRANCING, MARCHING, DANCING       4:12
     free improvisation Denny Zeitlin


SOLO VOYAGE (Suite)

06 PRELUDE*       2:10
     free improvisation Denny Zeitlin

07 IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY*       3:41
     Dave Brubeck

08 I SHOULD CARE*       6:24
     Cahn, Stordahl, Weston

09 INTERLUDE 1       1:44
     free improvisation Denny Zeitlin

10 LAMENT*       3:00
     J.J. Johnson

11 INTERLUDE 2       3:48
     free improvisation Denny Zeitlin

12 MOVING PARTS 1*       4:12
     Denny Zeitlin

13 MOVING PARTS 2*       4:06
     Denny Zeitlin

     Total Length       64:44
     * songs with Synthesizer


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