Popped over to Ft. Greene last night to hear Dave Kaplan play the Gold­bergs. Dave’s playing, like his custom­ary bow tie and corduroy suit, is instruc­tive in the best way, without being overly didactic—his inter­pre­ta­tions have a clarity which allow you to notice things you hadn’t before. 

I’ve noticed that my inter­pre­ta­tions (espe­cially of “standard rep”) tend to swing between poles of natu­ral­ness and didacticism—constant reacting and re-reacting to oneself, rather than a process of winnow­ing down to a consis­tent ideal. Probably not the best way to be a “concert pianist”, but it keeps things inter­est­ing, and anyway, as Victor Borge might say, “That’s just the way I’m built”.

After­wards we all went to Die Schwarze Kölner, one of my favorite bars (Schnei­der Aventi­nus on tap!), then home, to assemble Linzer cookies. Truly the best of Germanic culture, right here in Brooklyn.