Nicely done, Tim! Your thoughtful and sensitive interpretations prove Steve's compositions, the way I see it.
Your ending of "Wobbly Waltz" made me giggle. Very cute, indeed, Tim!
"Luminous" strikes me as a very "American" piece. Shades of Shakers and Copland, perhaps? I like the way you put the narrative arc together in this one.
Your performance of "Elegy" is exceptional. Soulful and touching to the core!
Now, as you know, I've been working on several of these, including "Tender 7," which is actually on the top of my stack right now, so, of course I was most interested to hear your take on it. Yours is a very romantic view, with the alternating liquid rubato of "presence" and passionate yearning for togetherness during "absence," and a solid maturity of oneness at the climax. The soudn is very much a love poem. I really enjoyed that reading of it! It's beautiful! My take on it is Baroque, I think... I hear Bach and Brubeck all over this one when I play it, so I've been taking it at about the same tempo as you did, but in a more strict time with less pedal, and, perhaps you would call, terraced dynamics! Ha-ha! Go figure!
Which is to say...
Steve's compositions deserve interpreters!!! There is much to explore in them! Steve, thank you so much for sharing your compostions with us. And, Tim, thank you so much for sharing these performances. What a treat!!!
--Andy
