Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
Pre-ECM, but, who can ignore Coltrane’s major influence on ECM style jazz? Wise One, John Coltrane
If you visit the blog on jazzstylezz.com, you can download a free mgu-file of all the tunes, including this one. Ps: I commented on the bad biab-video sync. This proved incorrect, sorry for this.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
Dzjang and other fans of Django, you likely will enjoy +++ THIS +++ John Jorgenson interview. John Jorgenson played Django in a movie and is a world renown session and touring guitarist in his own right.
@Jim: John Jorgenson is something else, isn’t he? The ease with which he switches from rock to country to jazz and back again is mindblowing. I don’t know enough about country to really assess his skills, but in the jazz realm his playing is top notch. Curious as to what you think of players like Bill Frisell who have turned to country and rock. He has a band with a slide guitar player mixing jazz and country. I think he is a fan of country, but does he play it well, I wouldn’t know. Respect! @Matt: Thanks. For the most part I rarely consider alterations (like: Cm11 for Cm7), since I don’t use piano or guitar accompaniment on Biab. But horn players and some guitarists do. So you are very right to point this out. It’s essential to get the piano or guitar part play intresting things. I mostly think Realbook: get the basic chords down and leave the analysis to the player. But with a midi software, that doesn’t work. On the other hand, for the bass part, it’s all the same. The midi system in Band in a Box doesn’t know these chords in the bass department and ignores every alteration, sadly. (Even a b9 or b13)
More important for me though is your first suggestion: bar 14. Your use of the bass note makes for a very nice transition to the E chord (b2 substitution, I think we should call it or tritone sub for some).
I dig the suggestion to go for Eb on the C min chord, though I think what Bob Berg is trying to stress is the Phrygian character of the I chord (Cminor) in the interlude as a contrast to the “normal” minor I chord. But, Eb would add some nice bass movement. For me it’s more like Dblydian with C in the bass. Thanks for the intresting suggestions.
Payment pending. Wix takes some time to process re-linking my domain to the site. Oh well…
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
Another contender for “Standard of the future”: Metheny’s Last Train Home. I thought of it as a typical Metheny Group Song, lots of Synclavier going on. But Gilad Hekselman made a really cool rendition of it, making it sound almost like a standard tune.
You can download a mgu file of this tune for free on my blog. If you want to play it, go ahead.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
You've just put your finger on it - looser drum parts and much tighter bass parts at the same time as the whole vibe being more sparse.
You have created great styles for swing time - that is done. The ECM and Scandi/Nordic material and artists I am inspired by are rarely playing 'swing time' and have a more pop or folk 'even' feel but swing massively in their phrasing especially in drums/percussion and acoustic bass. And they leave plenty of space - that's the signature of their sound - this is not 'foot tapping' music.
The challenge for me is to get a realistic 6/8 feel that could be possible by making a user style where two bars of 3/4 = 6/8 by pairing bars and using the bar settings to define - bar1 = count 1,2,3 and bar2 = count 4,5,6 etc.
I create trio backings - drum and bass + chords in order to play melody part scored or improvised - for fun, not to entertain others. And I do not use real tracks - strictly MIDI at this stage - before I export anything that sounds half decent to Garageband.
My challange is how to get the count to go smoothly from first to second bar so there does not feel like a break - bass and drum notes not able to sound across the gap etc, etc.
BIAB keeps getting upgrades and improvements - I started in the early years and keep coming back every few months - it now has good sound samples and a massive body of styles and other AI content that always teaches me something new about the musical process - I'm sticking with it.
That’s right. They don’t swing like in the old days. It was and still is a rhythmic revolution. It’s not the eighth note swing we know, but has a straight rhythm infused with subtle 16th and 32nd note triplets.
Making these styles has helped me understand the striking similarities between the Nordic sound, Jack DeJohnette and the Miles Davis quintet of the sixties.
Transcribing Jon Christensen and Michael DiPasqua on Garbarek‘s albums was surprisingly close to transcribing Dejohnette’s drumming on Bill Connors’ Of Mist and Melting.
Arild Andersen has expressed his admiration for Miles’ band in his albums with Masqualero. Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen have often referred in interviews to the Charles Lloyd Quartet and Elvin Jones’ playing in Coltrane’s band.
Jarrett picked up on Charles Lloyd’s integration of pop and folk tunes and rhythm. And the dynamic Nordic scene of the seventies has developed that even further, resulting in a few unforgettably beautiful melodies.
Jan Garbarek’s Entering (Places), Bill Connors’ Melting, Kenny Wheeler’s tunes, Jarrett’s Country or Innocence…
So much beautiful music. Maybe we could share some info, just to make the Biab experience better. PM me or continue this thread on all things ECM.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
I don't know if this helps with isolating styles, but in BIAB's style picker, the styles (Realdrums and Realtracks) that are labelled as sw16 are based on 16th note triplets. I haven't come across styles using 1/32 note triplets. (Not that I'm aware of, at least.)
When I use the filter in Stylepicker to only show Jazz, sw16... a number of styles are listed. These might be useful starting places for you.
That is an important observation, Noel. Swings differently, sounds more “pop” or rock.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
Seems to me there's a lot of ECM type options in the smooth and new age and world styles if you tweak or hybridise them. Especially those with a more World Music, Mystical or Classical feel rather than pop, funk etc. (eg. ANSWERS is almost an Oregon style)). The RALPH1 Christensen drummer can be used for example against the ETERNAL organ arpeggio for a John Surman/DeJohnette approximation. Useful in odd time signatures with holds and motifs in the new add on maybe. the SIRIUS style has a 'Last Train Home' vibe.
In the fusion styles there's obviously METH 80/81 and the fast even 8th jazz styles But you can do hybrids like the CROSWIND bass and piano parts along with the METH 80/81 DeJohnette drummer.
Outside BIAB there's OddGrooves ECM midi drum edition which might have some loop-able sections and fills within a rather sloppy presentation. Not too bad but not perfect by any means.
Session Band audio loops outside of the app in a windows based DAW can be used for ECM or mid 60's post bop purposes.
XLN addictive drums has a Jazz brushes set which boasts a free-jazz preset which isn't perfect but has enough of a 'metre-less' feel to it to be useable.
Elsewhere on the net there's a transcription or direct-to-midi Abercrombie/Johnson/Erskine performance of a standard with a Scandinavian pianist which is useful source of a subtle modern jazz waltz style.
@Alan, there are some great styles, like the ones you mentioned.
Btw, the midi that you refer to was my big inspiration for making styles that offer more than the factory styles. John Abercrombie, for sure. I’ve included the midi, because it’s so fabulous.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
@Dzjang, thanks for that reminder of one of the great jazz groups of the 80's and early 90's. a trio of great dynamic range.
Some more ECM songs done as BIAB files would be good to have. I did two songs for the archive, Kenny Wheeler's 'Ma Belle Helene'. And one more which turned out to be a post bop version of John Taylor's Azimuth tune 'Eulogy' (I called it 17/8 at the time after it's rhythmic cycle as I transcribed it from a radio broadcast tape without knowing the band! ) Other than that I've also got Towner's 'Distant Hills' but that's about it really.
The only other's I've seen are 'Prism' and 'Icarus'. So many by Jarrett, Towner and Wheeler can now be done as there are transcription aplenty out there but alas so little time.
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
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