Some of the above suggestions are okay if you have plenty of time to create note perfect backings for a public performance. But if you have several hundred jazz tunes, any one of which you may wish to practice, I expect the bass player to 'be there' with the right lines when I push the Play button.

I have just spent too many hours going through some of the tunes I am currently playing with a real, real band and therefore need to practice at home. I have assigned the 'Simple' and 'Very Simple' bass lines to the jazz styles previously selected. The result is somewhat better sounding rhythm sections which are more helpful for practicing jazz. They also swing more.

Referring back to mal12345's post, I agree. The simplification and correction of the bass lines, even for 'Very Simple', does not go quite far enough. I think this is a programming issue rather than the way Neil Swainson would play naturally.

I analysed the base lines on a slowish tempo (088) "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You" (Hey, I'm a trombone player!) where I had previously selected the RealStyle 'Jazz Bal w Pno Fred Guit (85 RS)'. I substituted the new Neil Swainson 'Very Simple' bass. I found that the first note in a bar was much more often the root note of the chord. In 32 bars there were only 3 bars where the first note was the third, 2 bars where it was the fifth and 1 bar where it was a fourth (ouch). Most of the notes were quarter notes but there were 6 doubled notes (which could be eliminated) and two instances of triplets over a quarter note on the downbeat (these also could be eliminated, although Neil does use these in his playing quite a lot).

Looking at the lines, they jump around far too much. As I understand walking bass lines, you try to move through a bar so that you end up moving to the next root note (or whatever) with a small step (a tone or less) up or down. I also observe there is a tendency for bass players to ascend walking for two bars and then descend for two bars. Therefore over four bars of Dominant patterns D7 - G7 - C7 - F7, the bass might play quarter notes (ascending) D, E, F#, A, (down a tone but continue ascending) G, A, B, D, (descending) C, Bb, A, G, F, Eb, D, C. Unfortunately when you come to analysing the BB bass lines there is no small step progression to the next chord. Too often there are jumps at the end of each bar of more than an octave. The connections between bars are just not smooth and it spoils the walking effect. I suggest it is the way that RealTracks stitches the whole thing together, rather than the way that Neil Swainson would have played the lines. I took the trouble to listen to his lines on my own recordings of him playing with George Shearing and on some internet videos, and his lines are extremely logical and swinging. I would say that BB RealTracks misrepresents his playing. I would think that the jazz bass lines in RealStyles need a lot more programing by someone who knows how to walk through the changes - Like Neil does in real life.

I am only talking about jazz bass lines.

It is only the bass lines of which I am ultra critical. Again like mal12345 says, the piano and guitar comping is excellent. The drumming perhaps needs more styles within the jazz idiom (more 'hot' swing drumming). Plus overall a larger range of tempos is required. From 60 up to 360 maybe.

Oh Yes, and the bass printout did contain one bar of those three-note chords (a triad) that some people have been complaining about, instead of a single bass note.

And to get back on topic, the answer to the original question is 'not very!"

Grah Jive Talk
"Don't worry baby, they'll swing their arses off."