Radical Renovations on Bach, Chopin and Mozart

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Review of John Stetch, Off With the Cuffs (Addo Records, 2013)

"This remarkable pianist, whose wealth of styles and ideas cannot easily be contained even in that increasingly expansive realm known as jazz, seems never to have heard a musical border he did not want to cross. A Canadian of Ukrainian extraction, Stetch has often worked in the folk music traditions of his own heritage, as in his vivid and virtuosic Ukrainianism (2002). On that disc, dark ruminations on catastrophe—“Famine” and the closing track, “Children of Chernobyl”—are interleaved with affirmations such as his “Carpathian Blues.”

More than a decade on, Stetch continues to explore new terrain, this time out taking three beloved piano works of European art music for a spin: down the back alleys of the blues; bumping over the off-beat ruts of Eastern folk idioms; and careening into unexpected excursions attributable only to his creativity and the abundance of unnamed influences stored in his inner ear. The trip is fueled not least by an iconoclastic humor, one required by the very project of grabbing some beers and going joy-riding with Mozart (Sonata in B-Flat, K. 33), J. S. Bach (Italian Concerto, BWV 971), and Chopin (Ballade in G minor, op. 23). To listen to Stetch pilot these luxury vehicles over the off-road of his imagination is wildly inspiring, usefully disconcerting, and just plain fun. The CD closes with Stetch’s idiosyncratic and illuminating readings of three preludes by Shostakovich followed by an original, Kapustin Rag. The dents of the journey through the classics are polished up at the close in the unlikeliest of Rag meters (7/8 and 11/8) in this piece named in honor of the Ukrainian-Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin. With Putin marching into the Crimea and glowering at the rest of the Ukraine it is good to know that in Stetch’s hands the borders will always remain open."

- DAVID YEARSLEY (from Counterpunch, March 2013). David Yearsley, author of “Bach’s Feet,” once played the world’s oldest piano and didn’t damage it … much.

Testimonials For Off With The Cuffs:

"Stetch has the musical gravitas to pull off what some could see as mere musical jokes; in his hands, though, these tunes have become more contemporary songs, to be taken no less seriously than the originals." - DownBeat Magazine, 4 stars

“John's vibrant, whimsical and piano-playing is totally engaging - "Off With The Cuffs" highlights his witty and clever sense of improvisation, and is great fun to listen to." - Lisa Kaplan, 3-time Grammy winning pianist of Eighth Blackbird

"Imaginative, rigorous, and truly personal takes on the classics!"- Joseph Lin, The Julliard String Quartet

“FANTASTIC! There is such clarity and so much humor in Stetch’s playing! I have always loved that about him.” - Rufus Reid, bassist, composer and bandleader

"John Stetch has a unique voice and travels freely between musical styles. He does all of this with overwhelming virtuosity". - Alex Fiterstein, classical clarinetist, 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient

Video Links

Re-Arrangement and Improvsations on Chopin's Heroic Polonaise

Re-Composition of J.S.Bach's Italian Concerto BWV 971

New Art video of original trio composition "Oscar's Blue-Green Algebra"