Once upon a time there was
this excellent 6-piece band performing a steady gig three nights
a week at a nightclub. The band included drums, keyboard, bass,
saxophone, female vocalist and a maraca player. Except maybe
for the maraca player, all of the musicians were top-notch and
the band sounded great.
One day the nightclub manager
mentioned to one of the musicians (the keyboardist), "you
fellows play great but I need your band to take a paycut. Maybe
you can down-size the band and release the maraca player. He
seems to be a nonessential instrument in your band." The
keyboardist turned and said, "we can't get rid of the maraca
player, he's the bandleader."
The moral of the story is:
you don't have to be a super-musician to earn the right to be
bandleader. One of the main keys to being a successful bandleader
is to own your arrangements. As far as professional bands and
orchestras are concerned, a book of 30+ arrangements is a necessary
component to succeed in the live music business.