Thanks Russ...

Joe... Have you forgotten I play ONLY an arranger? That I use it for live playing as well as solo gigs might give me a perspective that perhaps some of you that have decided to give up on playing with others quite a while ago may have lost.

The thing that gets up my nose here, probably the most, is listening to players that probably couldn't cut it in a real live band put down the very musicians that inspire their machines in the first place. No arranger EVER came up with a decent groove by itself. In fact, most of the best arranger styles have drum tracks actually played by drummers! But while these tiny snippets of drumming, guitar playing, etc. suffice as a passable backing, they fall so short of the real thing it astounds me how anyone can make the comparison.

I have no problem using an arranger... I have plenty of TOTL WS's, but when I go out the door, no matter what the gig, I take an arranger. Live band, duo, solo, session work, it's all the same to me. If that doesn't count as a reason for being here, I don't know what you are looking for... Other than, perhaps, you'd prefer I fall into line and drink the Kool-Aid and pretend the arranger is better than a live band. Well, sorry. Can't bring myself to do it!

To push ourselves, to get the most out of these technological wonders, the first thing you need to do is accept their limitations. Then you push hard at the manufacturers to address them. This is why, primarily, I spend time here. Now, while I am sure that my efforts were only a small part of it, I am sure that at least SOME of what I have done over the last few years to keep the Chord Sequencer at the forefront of consciousness, has impacted the fact that TWO major manufacturers have introduced it (or re-introduced it!) recently. I consider this feature one of the essential things you need to be able to play well on an arranger (or you simply resign your LH to rote chord repetition), and I'm ecstatic that it has returned to the fold. Even expanded a bit...

So, Joe, what's YOUR reason for being here?