GJ makes a great point about timing. Many years ago, when I played lead guitar with a 5 piece country band, I was amazed at how bad their timing was. It was nothing short of abysmal and constantly changed, going up and down like a roller-coaster. Once in a while, some of us get together, however, the drummer and bass player have long sinced passed away.

They still cannot keep time, especially with the keyboard's perfect timing. After a few hours the reason behind this became quite clear--no one other than myself was listening to the tempo. They would just go off on a tangent, doing their own thing, and when they finished they were usually a half beat off.

However, good musicians, those that have trained themselves to keep time and count, do not have this problem. I have had the privilege and honor to know musicians that have performed with the best big bands. They were superb, their timimg was impecible, yet they had an incredible style that was injected by each player.

So, in answer to the orriginal question, I sincerely believe a good keyboard player can be an assett to any band. However, the band must also be an assett to the keyboard player.

Cheers,

Gary