Ian, I am really not interested in what Donny has done in the past;
If you have a lot of heart and little technic you get by. If you have a lot of heart and good technic then you are GOOD! Technic without heart is like sex without love. Hmmmmmmmm
True John...very true indeed.
I love watching someone play who is, what we sometimes refer to as "into it".
That sax solo cried out for some pitch bending...it would have added a tad more of the "feel" you have described so well.
It wasn't meant as any kind of put down, but simply as a suggestion from one player to another.
I really enjoy listening to what others have done in the past, especially when/if I can hear what they do now with the same tunes.
Maybe Donny adds pitch bend to his sax solos nowadays...I really couldn't say.
And, a really good keyboardist (or any player, for that matter) should never let his
technique get in the way of his
playing.
Donny has lots of passion/heart for his music...it shows.
Ian
PS...this makes me think of the saying (don't know the author)..."You spend the first ten years learning what notes to play, and the next ten years learning what ones NOT to play."