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I lean both ways... there are times where it's "play what you feel" and there are times where it's "play what they played". Depends on the song, and rarely do I have the skill to match the original, it's going to be an approximation! I don't worry about getting the exact tone or effect, but I want the notes.. the "tune" to be pretty close. It's like when Carlos and Tomita started interpreting classics. Tomita's Snowflakes are Dancing sounds nothing like any other versions, but the tune is definitely recognizable. If you start changing the notes, playing something totally different, it's NOT Snowflakes! When the Vanilla Fudge revamped multiple songs, they kept the tune. Season of the Witch, Shotgun, You Keep Me Hangin' On. It was reinterpretation, and it works. But watching Jeff Beck do Les Paul licks on How High The Moon sounds so true to Les' vision that it's a joy to hear! There's room for both situations.

What you’re describing is the difference between: interpretation — making the music yours imitation — recreating someone else’s choices Tribute bands live in the second category. They’re about fidelity to a recording, not fidelity to the musical idea. That’s why they obsess over note‑for‑note solos, exact tones, exact phrasing, exact stage moves. It’s a reenactment. But in classical music, nobody treats the first performance of a Mozart symphony or a Beethoven concerto as the “correct” version. They treat the score as the real object — the blueprint — and every orchestra and conductor is expected to bring their own interpretation to it.

This!