Plopped this cd in after seeing Greg's post about the robot that plays Giant Steps. It's not quite a fair comparison. I mean, there's no rhythm section and you can hear the clicking of the mechanical fingers. But definitely, as Greg says, there's something missing. If you do need a point of reference, here is my favorite online version of the Coltrane classic.

The video is six or seven years old, though. The technology seems to have come a long way since then. Admittedly, it isn't Coltrane, but the Toyota trumpet-playing robot has picked up at least a tiny amount of soul in the musical (if not the metaphysical) sense.

So yes, I'm sure that someday in the not too distant future, perhaps even within my lifetime, airport bars and hotel atria will start sporting robotic house bands. This could certainly be seen as an improvement over piped in Muzak and not much of a stretch beyond player pianos, but does this signal the end of the small-time, independent musician?

Mmmm no, I don't think so. The question of whether the sounds of tomorrow's robots can be distinguishable from the music that humans produce is really moot. Making music will remain a human endeavor for eons to come. It's the metaphysical soul that is the engine for musical soul. Until robots have the former, they will only be able to emulate the latter.