I read through much of this thread before I was able to play and hear the various clips. Now that I've been able to listen, I have to state my very strong preference for the Rob Bourassa performance as opposed to the Qualey arrangement.

In fact, I flat out dislike what Qualey did to a wonderful and familiar classic. Maybe this is my shortcoming, a failure of imagination to fully appreciate someone's creativity. But, rightly or wrongly, I feel that the deliberate effort to "improve upon" Bach by chopping the rhythm to pieces snd completely eliminating the counterpoint is downright narcissistic.

I think that the "counterproposed" performances by Rob and several others all demonstrate that a musician can be personally expressive and can create a moving performance without resorting to gratuitous and idiosyncratic gimmicry.

I understand that Qualey was trying to create a "flowing" sound and an outlet for his feelings, and if he had been performing a completely original piece, or a work completely unfamiliar to me, he might have elicited a more positive response on my part. But once he got through his tacked-on introduction and began his reinterpretation of the Bach theme, I found it impossible NOT to regard it as butchery.