The virtuosic Bagatelles are playful and contain witty programmatic elements. "Gait" depicts a "swingin' septuagenarian" while "Laps" describes a game of tag between Pew and his daughter. "Pat," inspired by the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, instructs the piano to keep the beat with audible foot taps throughout. This movement and most of the others feature heavy doses of jazz rhythms and harmonies. The lone exception is "Devotion," a loving tribute written by Pew for his wife Janae. Its simple beauty is in stark contrast to "Locomotion," with its tempo indication of "fast and a little crazy!" Pew reintroduces excerpts from "Motion" and "Groovin'" within this driving, final movement. Notes by Mark Tollefsen © 2014.
