samuel chell

"Without the rendition, there is no song . .. " It seems plainer that it is. I'm forced to try it the other way: "Without a song, there is no rendition." More than 90% of the "hit" recordings of the day merge the composer with the performer, the song with the rendition. After the song has run its course, it soon dies if others don't deem it worthy of rendering--sooner, if the repeat is merely a profit-motivated act of "covering"; later--sometimes much much later--it the repeat is due to the wishes of subsequent performers to "interpret" material that can seem as inexhaustible as the number of musicians who can play or sing it, each finding in the song something universal and personal, an expression of the performer's unique self. Jule Styne's "Time After Time" is one such example, some taking the tune up-tempo for a thrilling ride in the jet-stream; others slowing it down to a virtual standstill as if to prove the meaning of the title--savoring each and every moment of the song's welcome visit.