Diki, Diki, Diki. Okay, pony poo, then; how about horsey caa caa? Listen, I don't hold arrangers in disdain, I just see them for what they really are; great tools for sketching out song ideas and secondly, for having lots of fun.

I spend loads of time with aspiring singer/songwriters and for getting his or her basic ideas down, it's teriffic. I have no problem with people using them to gig with but frankly (and this is incredib le), I have never seen one used on a gig. Not being a huge fan of amateur/semi-pro singers, I probably would not go to see an act that featured an arranger. Of course, this is JMO and is valid only for me.

Although I have pretty much retired from the active music scene (I really miss it), I was lucky enough to play two venues (as an emergency replacement) at the recent National Black Arts Festival here in Atlanta. Acoustic piano and 2 1/2 days rehearsal. Wasn't too bad but we were only able to do five tunes (that's all we could bring up to performance standards in that timeframe). Lots of great talent there, including Roberta Flack and Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand).

I've been going to a few local jazz/blues clubs in the past few months and it has definitely triggered the desire to do some lightweight gigging again; hence the Nord C1. Just drums and guitar; old Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes, Jack McDuff type stuff. I think it's time for a resurgence of this type of music. I'm probably wrong. We'll see.

chas