Don

I think its a catch 22 situation. There are very few arranger players out there so other musicians are not exposed to them. For the majority its have a totally live band, or part of a band with tracks, or do a solo with tracks. Everyone seems to follow the same path. I've educated a few players here about Arranger and have had the same reponses you had.
I'm falling in line too with the backing tracks but hopefully I'm still doing enough with Styles and playing live with SMF's as well as singing to keep it at a higher level.

Yes Russ I agree, going it alone is very nice but opprotunities to do so are few and far between.