Robo-bop? Jazz-playing robots might one day headline a club near you

A Darpa grant given to Kelland Thomas of the University of Arizona will fund the creation of musical machines that learn to improvise like jazz musicians

The shadowy arm of the US Defense Department devoted to funding cutting-edge technology is building an interactive robotics system powerful enough to perform an incredibly difficult task: a trumpet solo.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the US military's technology research arm, has handed over its first cheque to Kelland Thomas, associate director of the University of Arizona School of Information (and a jazz musician in his own right) to fund musical machines.