Well, speaking just for myself here... it's not laziness that keeps me from being a bandleader, it's a lack of leadership skills. I can't get cats to march in a parade, and that's a lot of what it looks like to me from the back. I do however have this ability to remember arrangements, keys, tempos, and fine details that often get misremembered or forgotten by others. Case in point, just last weekend we played a Christmas concert that would have been 30 years if not for the Covid years we simply couldn't fathom an outdoor event in December Virginia. The core of the band, 5 of us... 30 years on now put it together one more time, and they do indeed look to me for that reference point. Simply because they know I'll remember. Or if not off-the-cuff, I'll have scribbled it in notes somewhere. I've been hit with weird transposition 10 minutes before downbeat. One year it was Gmin to F#min for a singer with a confidence issue. That was tricky. She later dropped it to Fmin, and I still have both alternates charted. This year, it was "I'll Be Home For Christmas" moved from C to A. Alright, that ain't the end of the world, but it ain't easy-peasy either. I knew the melody line in my head. The keys player pushed a couple buttons and he was done. I took a scratch pad and pen, my guitar, and went to the hallway to work it out. Hey, at least it wasn't some wacky flat. 🙄
But yeah, that's our job... remember stuff, or at least be able to remember where to find it.
