Featured artist: JOHN
STETCH
Embraceable
You was composed by George and Ira Gershwin in 1930 and has
since been recorded on 100ds of occasions. So before Edmonton-born
pianist John Stetch decides to submit his interpretation to public
scrutiny, he knows he is competing with the masters (Peterson,
Evans). The challenge is daunting: to find something there that
hasn't been found before, to be original but never for its own
sake, and to immerse himself in the score in such a way that when
he emerges the song belongs to him alone.
Loving
hands are what makes
John Stetch's
Embraceable You an achievement. The
sounds, brought forth by fingers floating over the keys like soft
summer breezes, are feelings finding their way to the warm embrace
of the beloved. Or to paraphrase Leonard Cohen: he has immortalized
the embraceable one with his mind. Stetch brilliantly blurs the
line between interpretation and invention. He goes where only
the best dare to go then makes it sound inevitable; not unlike
that other Canadian pianist of some note -- a Mr. G. Gould? Following
his critically acclaimed Ukranianism, Stetch's Standards
(2003) introduces rhythms and harmonies such as you have never
heard, but always at the service of the great music to which his
music is an homage. Standards is available at
Justin Time Records.
John's
new solo album,
Exponentially Monk,
which concludes his solo piano trilogy, will be released May 11th.
Listen
to EMBRACEABLE
YOU
