Diki,
You wrote.

“I guess, though, that once you decide to perform in public, playing to your OWN satisfaction is no longer enough...
You HAVE to satisfy the listener, as well! Whether it's your relatives, or Simon Cowell...
That's one of the problems with arrangers. It can lead those with NO musical ability whatsoever to assume they DO, inflict it on the public, and then we all stand around and wonder WHY arrangers have such a poor rap. They certainly didn't get it for no reason whatsoever!
To be honest, I think the 'arrogance' comes from deciding for YOURSELF that you have 'talent', no matter what other people say...!”

I replied, using your terminology,

“If a person is making a living, playing an arranger to his own satisfaction, without any musical ability whatsoever, and not satisfying his listening public, perhaps he did the right thing to ignore what other people had to say about his talent.”

Your posts, with the point your making, seems to hold a contradiction.

1.“That's one of the problems with arrangers. It can lead those with NO musical ability whatsoever to assume they DO, inflict it on the public, and then we all stand around and wonder WHY arrangers have such a poor rap. They certainly didn't get it for no reason
whatsoever!”

2.“The arranger's bad rep comes from folks with NO ability still inflicting their playing on the public. It sure as heck didn't come from GOOD players, now did it?”

3.“to pull off a paid gig, you HAVE to have some musical ability”

I feel your problem, if there is one, with arranger players, with no musical ability whatsoever, not satisfying the listener, and getting paid gigs; could resolve it’s self.
Fred Wren.