# CD review: Denny Zeitlin & George Marsh – Telepathy  2021: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2021/06/25/cd-review-denny-zeitlin-george-marsh-telepathy-2021-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2021-06-25T16:16:03+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**True improvisers always seek new avenues and vehicles to inspire themselves in
their art. Keyboard master Denny Zeitlin and percussion guru George Marsh have continued
to push their musical dialogs to near telepathic levels utilizing their long-honed
rapport and technological advancements to propel their music into new, enlivening
places. Their new recording, Telepathy, continues their journey into the endless
world of improvisation.**

The Bay Area based Zeitlin and Marsh have worked alongside of each other since the
1960s. Together, they have explored the farthest reaches of numerous musical styles,
from jazz and classical to rock, electronics and free improvisation. These decades
of working together have cemented a bond and musical language that is unbreakable,
but also one that continues to evolve.

Since 2013, the two artists have met regularly at Zeitlin’s Double Helix Studio 
at his home. The meetings happen every two to three months and are always recorded
for posterity. The studio houses percussion and drum set along with Zeitlin’s Steinway
piano, and an astonishing array of keyboards, computers, monitors, pedals, breath
controllers and electronics.

Marsh typically plays acoustically on percussion and drums. Zeitlin plays all keyboards,
acoustic and electric. The system is set up for maximum flexibility in real time.
Sounds from multiple computer synths are controlled from any of 4 keyboards via 
foot pedals, hand and breath controls, and an array of three iPads with 8 different
complex sounds apiece that can be dialed up and mixed together at any time with 
the touch of a screen. The net effect is that of two musicians becoming an orchestra,
a goal of Zeitlin’s since he first climbed into his parents’ Steinway piano as a
child.

Telepathy is the third, and most recent, collection of spontaneous compositions 
that Zeitlin and Marsh have recorded. It continues on the path they initially carved
on Riding The Moment (2015) and Expedition (2017); the musicians are musical explorers
who span not only the geography of the musical terrain but also the geology, as 
they break deeper and deeper into the bedrock of the unexplored.

The duo has continued to grow, and Telepathy shows the crystallization of their 
processes of instant composition. Zeitlin and Marsh find ways to bring these divergent
sounds together in a collective and intuitively structured fashion, all without 
a note being planned ahead of time. They choose to get out of the way of the emergence
of the music.

The recording begins with the evocatively titled “Highlands,” a piece that introduces
pipelike tones reminiscent of Scotland with Marsh’s percussion before settling into
a piano and bass led groove. One can imagine mercury flowing down a steep hillside
in “Quicksilver,” an especially swinging piece, while “Hatching” begins with an 
ascending emergence before finding a warm pulse. A mysterious pall hangs over “Black
Hole” until the murky sustained piano and fluttering percussion finally let some
light escape through Zeitlin’s bright righthanded melody and haunting vocal effects.

Ruminative piano and propulsive kit drums build into an otherworldly waltz on “Moon
Flower” and the intensity heightens on “Boiling Point,” with a simmering, swinging
drum feature and offbeat rejoinders from Zeitlin. Shifting meters, bass pulses, 
snappy percussion and kalimba make “On the Move” exciting and exotic, while Zeitlin’s
guitar and Marsh’s push and pull on “Disagree to Agree” generate a teasing musical
debate. Meditative patches give “If Only” an aura of regret, differing from the 
offbeat energy of “Hadron Collider.”

Zeitlin introduces a collection of voices on the playful tune “The Ascent,” a cinematic
piece where the performers are at their most dramatic. The expansive “The Odyssey”
is the record’s tour de force, a fascinating, weaving journey that continues on 
a triumphant arc. “The Maze” is another mysterious piece that leads listeners through
unexpected turns. The recording concludes with electric “Fillmore Dreams,” a bombastic
sendoff recalling rock concerts at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium back in the‘
60’s psychedelic era with distorted melody and high intensity percussion.

Lifelong partners in exploration, Denny Zeitlin and George Marsh feel that Telepathy
is the best representation of their unique musical bond and unbounded enthusiasm
for creation.

 1.  Highlands
 2.  Quicksilver
 3.  Hatching
 4.  Black Hole
 5.  Moon Flower
 6.  Boiling Point
 7.  On The Move
 8.  Disagree To Agree
 9.  If Only
 10. Hadron Collider
 11. The Ascent
 12. Odyssey
 13. Maze
 14. Fillmore Dreams

**Denny Zeitlin – acoustic piano, hardware & virtual synthesizers, keyboards**
 **
George Marsh – drums, percussion**

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![Telepathy | Denny Zeitlin & George Marsh | Denny Zeitlin](https://i0.wp.com/
f4.bcbits.com/img/0024991638_10.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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