yes that’s a good idea. I did a gig last night. A singer hired me and the last thing he wanted was for a sax player to get in his way, but when the time comes to shine that’s when you play…mostly in the solo section. you can also play along at a decreased volume behind the singing, playing off of what else is going on musically like the guitar riffing or just chordal steps etc.
as for recycling, yes of course. when you think about it, it makes perfect sense because if it’s a 12 bar tune then every solo you play over those 3 chords will work anywhere that’s using this same progression.

I’d be interested to hear any of JF’s tips about playing in a band.

Any player of music has to have his/her own mission statement – know exactly what type of music they want to play, and know exactly what they will have to give up to chase that dream!
If you’re married with wife & kids, steady job, can you drop everything disappear for nights on end, would your partner in life sign up to that?

All bands are different, and common sense would be to find out what their mission statement is and if your mission statement is different, walk away.

New bands in my oppinion when they take on a sax player, don’t know anything about the sax sound, and when they hear the sax sound in their music can suddenly reliase thats not what they want in their style of music – no matter how good a sax player they are, they might not want to end up as a backing band for a sax player.

I know someone who has a steady 9 to 5 job, and has played guitar in a band that has played up and down the country – they just played at the week ends, the bands now retired as the founder is tired out. But they had fun for over a decade. No lucky breaks for them, to give up their day jobs, but they lived the dream.
One of my cousins has played in bands in some big gigs, but has never left his day job, his sister got some degree in music and has played piano in orchestra’s and never had any lucky breaka – but they have all had fun!

In my case – i would only be prepared to play at the weekend, i would only be prepared to play near to where i live – which is not what a band might want.

That’s one of the reasons i’m doing sax grades, as i can get into a local jazz band or orchestra which fits in with my lifestyle and still have fun.
To make a living out of that would be suicidal, i would have to play other wind instrunents – clarinet, flute to fall back on.

Each band is no different to working in different companies, they might all have the same objectives, but when they take on staff, its not just the skills they are looking for, they are also looking for the personality that fits in with their team. The last thing they want is to be lumbered with a person they cant stand or doesn’t fit or is to inflexible – common sense prevails.

But i do agree if your personality fits in with their team, there are some pointers that JF can illustrate – that wouldn’t cause you to rock the boat so to speak, if you don’t want to spend your time walking on eggshells. Fear of failure, being humiliated etc – big band players have done all that.