Russ, that really is too bad for the NH residents in Lexington ...
From my experience here in RI I am pleased to say that is not the case ... now maybe a number of the people who entertain in NH up here are not 'top notch' jazz players, but for the most part they are people who have - and many still do - make a good dollar playing clubs -including jazz clubs - and restaurants in the area as members of trios on up and can cover many different styles of music ...
I have said before, that one of the first things that impressed me when I moved to RI was the number of quality musicians in this area ... Fortunately many of them avail themselves to working the NH circuit as well ...