My mistake Graham if I misunderstood your statement. I may not be a "real" jazz musician but I can tell you the real musician in my area that want to work, use backing tracks. Australia may be different but I can tell if you want to make more than $50 a gig you'll use backing tracks. Some guys use just drum tracks, some guys mix it up. There are great players out there who have a day job and can pick and choose to play a few times a year or just go to a jam session. The guys who do it for a living, do what it takes to get paid. I'm talking about "real" jazz musicians who can play circles around me. Many of them play all live gigs, but not 100% of the time especially if you're a horn player. Even if you are the best player in the city, there are only so many gigs to go around. So what are the rest of us to do, keep practicing and hope someone calls us or go out and make your own gig. I choose to make my own gigs. I worked 4 to 5 nights a week up until the economy went south. Would I love to play completely live, sure who wouldn't. Again my apologies for misreading your comments, that's a bad habit I have. In the future I'll read more carefully.

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