Dave,

On the i30, a style such as "The Duke" won't sound good on a 12 bar blues. Most of the Big Band styles won't work on 12 bar blues. Neither will any of the 16 bar loops. However, for Satin Doll it really shines while playing my sax or singing. It also goes great with Sunny Side Of The street and a few others. It's probably more of a Jazzier sound than most entertainer vocalist will want to use.

I'm a horn blower. So, my taste will be different than most anyone here on the forum. I don't like any of the styles on any keyboard for 12 bar blues up tempo. I just have a couple I've learned to live with. I'm talking uptempo 12 bar blues like Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon the sax masters do. Not the "Shake Rattle and Roll" and "Rockin Robin" 12 bar blues. The 4 bar loops are made for these tunes and yes I do these tunes.

Being a horn improvising enthusiasts, I must emphasize the 4 bar loops just don't cut it.

I do a lot of Steve Tyrell's tunes using just the bass and drums. I set the keyboard for piano and I like playing the keyboard in a jazz guitar program to accompany the vocals I do. There are 4 bar loops I use for this and they work well.

When I comment I comment from the horn blower side. You'll never get me to agree on 4 bar loops for much of the stuff I do on the sax. It offers no kick or motivation for horn players who improvise.

When doing vocals you make the melody stand out. When playing a horn and doing a lot of improvising, the 16 bar loops offer much more motivation to inspire one in jazz improvisation.

Even on the Sinatra stuff, you won't find any 4 bar loops on his tunes. The horn licks, drum fills, kicks, guitar and strings voices are all over the place. Of course they are placed where they belong.

With arranger 16 bar loop styles, the accents are fixed and won't work on some tunes. However, they are very refreshing when I stand up and toot my sax. That is why some of the 16 bar loops which are mostly on the jazz stuff will only work on some particular tunes because of the added licks, kicks etc. being fixed

Playing just melody for 3 choruses with 4 bar loops would drive me out of music quicker than just using 4 bar loops for every tune.

If I could understand sound equipment as well as improvisation I wouldn't need to aggravate you folks with all of my stupid sound equipment questions.

Again the 4 bar loops work well in a strictly vocal environment. I want to improvise and I find the refreshing 16 bar loop styles much more invigorating while jamming on my sax. I'm sure any horn players here will agree.

I don't expect the vocalist to agree but perhaps a few do. This is not ment to be a put down of vocalist. This is a post hoping to explain my viewpoint from a frustrated old jazz musician that sees my music dying.

Most of the young kids don't even like what most of you are doing. They like rap.

My son is 24 and would flip over DonM. Here is the son of a jazz enthusiast and he likes all the new country music like Don keeps up with.

Don's my buddy. When I get around him I'm a bad influence. I hit some jazz licks on his tunes. But he seems to enjoy it. After we played at his gig he took me over to the Ramada to jam with some friends. He built me, and I have to admit he made me feel good.
Boo

Don't froget I'm a part time vocalist and I do maybe 15 or so country tunes. I like "Friends In Low Places" and "She Thinks I Still Care". So I mean no harm. I just wish you guys would play "Cheesecake", Doxy and a few jazz tunes. Ha! Ha!