I have a few people I call professionals that I work with. I do find they are easier to work with than inexperienced musicians. I don't think they necessarily needed the video either -- but only learned that after working with them. The good news is that I didn't scare them away with the video. But many of the new players I work with need the video. Even one that was in my original, democratic band who I then brought into one of the newer bands. Could not accept new wine in old bottles. The video made the bottle new again.
What makes them easy to work with is that they know how to learn tunes fast (most of the time we just throw charts at each other on the gig). They do what the job requires, and they play only for money. But even in those cases, I have two that have created significant drama. One will only play what excites him. He is deeply uncooperative with client requests. The other -- the artist type -- I told you about him. This was in my pre-video days.
I was on a Blue Note Jazz cruise to the Carribean last week, and had some great one on one conversations with Grammy-award winners and nominees. With as many gigs as they ahve packed into one day, and a round robin of players in different groups, I saw how they worked together on stage. As I have performed more and more, I realize its all about flexiblity. Good chops is taken for granted, and the musicians simply adapt to the situation at hand. On the local scene, there aren't as many of those cats around, in my view.
And if you're like me, constantly developing new players, there is a need for orientation.
