You gotta match the musician/entertainer to the gig (venue, occasion, etc.). A great entertainer is going to 'die' in a typical jazz club where people come for the music, just as a great jazz musician is going to die in your typical 'party/dance-type' club where people come primarily to be entertained. Doesn't matter that Russ 'survived' the gig purely on musicianship, the fact is that; 1) he didn't enjoy it, and 2) Donny or Uncle Dave would probably have done a better job. My rule; never play outside your 'comfort level'. Nobody benefits.

Sadly, there are far fewer jazz venues than general venues in most areas of the country. I happen to be lucky in that there are quite a few jazz clubs in suburban Atlanta. All are upscale and none will tolerate any other type of music. Because of the large number of good musicians in the area, they also won't tolerate 'bad' (as in amateurish, etc.) acts. The pay scale here is better than in most places but the competition is stronger (the rich get richer, the incompetent get poorer). In downtown Atlanta, as in many other large urban areas, HipHop is king and the money the A-list guys make can only be imagined by pro's from other genre's. Like it's counterpart, Rock, it's that aspect of it that seduces so many our promising young musicians (that and the fact that it's easier to 'make it big' with a limited amount of formal training). Oh well, that's life in the music biz these days.

chas