So Gary, I don't know how good you are playing an arranger but you're DAMMED GOOD at tooting your own horn .

1. Do all these foreign players that you present KNOW that they're your friends.

2. In all these 'wonderful' arrangements, what makes them wonderful, the arranger keyboard or THE PLAYER? (If it's the keyboard, then why don't we all sound like that?).

3. Were these performances done in arranger mode (auto-play) or were most of the parts played by the musicians that produced them?

In the last 30+ years, I have owned at least seven different arranger keyboards and/or modules, so obviously I don't hate arrangers. I consider myself a mediocre jazz organist (Hammond only) and have only played organ in professional venues. I have to admit that my interest in arrangers has more to do with technology than with music production. I'm an engineer by training and a geek by nature so naturally when combined with my strong interest in and affinity for music, I would gravitate towards arranger keyboards, if only out of curiousity. Over the years, my interest in arranger keyboards has diminished considerably and that is because I haven't seen anything truly new or innovative (in an earth-shattering way) since the Tyros II/PA1x era. Better quality sounds, questionably better styles, and a few new whiz/bang navigational features; not enough to pique my technical curiousity (at least not 3-5000.00 worth). Fact is, I haven't turned on any of my arrangers for a couple of years now except the BK7m which I use (strictly as a very good and convenient drum machine) for practice and rehearsal. On the other hand, I play my clonewheel (Legend) and cloneRhodes (Crummar SEVEN) every single day. Others here have started to duplicate my actions with their digital pianos. Hey, whatever gets your juices going. If that's an arranger, so be it, HOWEVER, IN MY OPINION, one will never get the same level of satisfaction playing an arranger (with style backing) as one would playing an acoustic instrument such as a piano or guitar, that he/she has mastered. Again, just my opinion (as in, 'valid only for me').

chas