Wasn't ragged sort of an attribute of the Stewart Trio in concert? They had this enthusiasm and chemistry that made it work, despite the ragged spots. Once Upon A Time was ragged but I still enjoy listening to it. I was re-watching the Reunion concert recently and changed my opinion. The Stewart Trio was better than I had remembered. Plus, all three of them seemed to be having a helluva good time.
I was disappointed in the Guard Trio at the reunion concert. I think your assessment of Dave's performance is accurate. At the time, I don't think he and Shane were getting along and it showed. Frankly, their performance reminded me of a hostage tape. No one was having any fun. At around that time, Dave made some negative comments to the the Wall Street Journal and Shane fired back.
I prefer to remember Dave's later years for a recording of Santy Anno he did for Folk Era. He reworked it and the arrangement was haunting and beautiful. You had to wish that some record company would have turned him loose in a recording studio to see if he could come up with an album of this kind of stuff.
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