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Step Tempest was born in December of 2009 in the wake of my weekly arts column, "See! Hear!", published by the Hartford Courant. The Courant had allowed me to use its platform as a home for my blog for several years after they stopped printing my "hard copy" but finally decided to close up access. So, I found blogger.com and indulged my love of music, both recorded and live, ever since. My "addiction" to creative music has been aided by numerous fine publicists and, oddly, by the pandemic of 2020. Musicians were "stuck" at home and many agreed to be interviewed for my radio show on WESU-FM here in Middletown, CT.
While my curiosity has not abated, my time to write has greatly diminished over the past several years. Several surgeries and fractures plus a busy (yet enjoyable) teaching schedule, while not altering my love of reviewing, all that and more have keot me away from this blog. I still read a lot of other writers, listen to numerous podcasts, and enjoy riding in the car with music easing the commute. It's not fair to make artists wait for a review since there are fewer and fewer outlets for positive feedback or reviews of live shows. My promises to promote artists sound thinner as the months fly by.
After I post my "Notable Releases of 2024" column later in December, Step Tempest will go on hiatus. I'll still do the occasional radio show (mostly in the summer) and might find a new home just for the various conversations I have with musicians, composers, and producers. Over the past few years, I have taught a class about music – not "Music Appreciation" but a deeper historical and sociological look at how music often reflects the culture it emanates from. The creative process is where my interest lies more so now than even when, as a young boy, I used to spend nights listening to an old tube radio that pulled in stations up and down the Easter Seaboard, up into Canada, and as far west as Chicago. All kinds of music entered my consciousness and that love of a plethora of genres and sounds has stuck with me.
Stay safe, dear reader, be strong, find your rhythm!
Richard
Enjoy a taste of "Exuberance" from composer & arranger Christopher Zuar and his Orchestra:
