Russ, Russ, Russ....as a fellow jazz player who has real difficulty even saying "short call for alcohol" (announcing the break), I understand your point.......understand it, not necessarily agree with it. I think the people that came to watch Miles play all night with his back to the audience WERE there to be entertained. Its just that they were entertained by the great music and the knowledge that they were in the presence of greatness.

The point is, it really is all about entertainment at some level. It's just that those of us who are blessed to be able to play jazz at a high level can entertain both ourselves AND the audience at the same time.

So in the end, the "entertainer" and the "jazz musician" are doing the same thing, entertaining. It's just that the "jazz musician" is entertaining a more refined, more enlightened, more sophisticated, less plastered, audience.



chas