Denny Zeitlin has recorded over forty critically acclaimed albums; twice won first place in the Down Beat International Jazz Critics Poll; written original music for Sesame Street; and appeared on network TV, including repeats on the Tonight Show, and CBS Sunday Morning. Zeitlin's lecture-demonstration "Unlocking the Creative Impulse: The Psychology of Improvisation" has been presented across the U.S. and in Europe.
He has concertized throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe, at colleges, jazz clubs, and major festivals; appearing with jazz greats such as Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Tony Williams, Bobby Hutcherson, John Patitucci, John Abercrombie, Marian McPartland, Charlie Haden, David Grisman, Kronos Quartet, Paul Winter, David Friesen, Matt Wilson, Buster Williams, George Marsh, and many others.
Zeitlin was born in Chicago in 1938. His parents were both involved in medicine and music. He began playing the piano at age two, studied classical music throughout his elementary school
years, and fell in love with jazz in high school — a made-to-order medium for his primary interest in improvisation and composition. He played professionally in and around Chicago while still in high school. in college and medical school, he combined jazz with formal study of music theory and composition with Alexander Tcherepnin, Robert Muczynski, and George Russell. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois in 1960 and received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1964.
He is currently a psychiatrist in private practice in San Francisco and Marin County and an award-winning Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.

His first series of records appeared on Columbia in the mid and late 60's, and were received with critical acclaim and international exposure. Zeitlin then withdrew from public appearance for several years in order to develop a pioneering integration of jazz, electronics, classical, and rock. This music emerged in the early 70's with multiple recordings, culminating in the 1978 electronic-acoustic symphonic score for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Subsequently he returned for several decades to a primary focus on acoustic music in a multitude of settings, with continued composing, recording, and international touring.
With the arrival of the millennium and vastly more powerful electronic music technology, Zeitlin embarked on a major upgrade of his home studio and re-immersed himself in electro-acoustic music. He was soon joined by his close colleague from the seventies, drummer George Marsh. As a duo they have released several albums of free improvisations on Sunnyside records.
Sunnyside has also supported Zeitlin’s ongoing interest in solo piano and acoustic piano trio music. In yearly releases beginning in 2009, his long-time trio with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson has been documented, as well as a series of solo piano concerts often exploring the work of composers such as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, and George Gershwin. His 2024 CD, “Panoply,” is a critically acclaimed selection of solo, trio, and duo music from his personal archives.
“ By any measure, Zeitlin’s creative output over the past 50 years places him at jazz’s creative zenith.”
Andrew Gilbert, JazzTimes