Signed by
Columbia Records's
John Hammond, Zeitlin began his recording career in 1963 while studying medicine at
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, debuting as the featured pianist on the
Jeremy Steig album
Flute Fever, which also featured
Ben Riley and
Ben Tucker. Zeitlin's recording debut as a leader was the album
Cathexis, with bassist
Cecil McBee and drummer
Freddie Waits. Zeitlin then moved to San Francisco in 1964 to intern at the
University of California, San Francisco, followed by a residency. Reflecting on Zeitlin's Columbia period, jazz historian
Ted Gioia wrote that the pianist "had assimilated the breakthroughs of the previous decade, from the impressionism of Bill Evans to the free-fall explorations of
Ornette Coleman, and blended them into a personal style that anticipated the next fifteen years of keyboard advances. He stood out from the crowd for the unbridled creativity of his work, the richness of his harmonic palette, and the sheer beauty of his piano tone". Between 1968 and 1978, Zeitlin integrated
electronic keyboards,
synthesizers, and
sound-altering devices with acoustic instruments, working in multiple musical genres. The results were first heard in 1969 when Zeitlin composed and performed music for the "Jazzy Spies" sequences on the first season of
Sesame Street, featuring vocal overdubs by
Grace Slick. In 1973, he released
Expansion, a trio album with George Marsh (musician) and Mel Graves, which
DownBeat magazine awarded its highest rating. The period culminated with Zeitlin's writing the score for the 1978 remake of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which turned out to be his only film score, despite numerous subsequent offers, because of the extreme workload of many 20-plus-hour days. While
New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael thought the music occasionally overpowered the action, she called the score "generally dazzling" and a large contributor to both the humor and terror of the film. Beginning in 1978, Zeitlin focused primarily on acoustic music, continuing to play concerts internationally and recording some 22 albums. His projects included the solo album
Soundings, the duo album
Time Remembers One Time Once with Charlie Haden, and
Denny Zeitlin Trio in Concert with bassist
Buster Williams and drummer
Matt Wilson. Zeitlin continued to draw strong reviews. Critic Doug Ramsey wrote that "Trio in Concert", released in 2009, "catches Dr. Zeitlin, at age 70, in his musical prime and his trio afire". ==Dual careers==