This "Mix it up" makes for very interesting conversation, in that it seems that everyone has their own idea of what it means ...
I understand where Donny is coming from, saying that playing the same thing the same way all the time is boring - and perhaps it is for the entertainer - but every 'performance group' from big bands, to rock groups, to the NY Rockettes performs the same routines time after time after time, and that's what the public expects ... I've said before that we saw Sinatra at what was then the Providence Civic Center ... we had great seats and could actually see the monitors he had for his lyrics - even his 'ad libs' were scripted !!! ... I saw an interview with Joe Walsh talking about when he was with the Eagles, and how he used to sweat while playing the solo in "Hotel California", because he KNEW it had to be the same, note for note, every time he played it ... Dave said that when he was in a band, it was all scripted, and tight, and was the same every time they played ... Our band wasn't like that ... we rehearsed, knew what we wanted to do, but each time we did a song, while some parts because of syncopation, harmonies, whatever, were the same, there was some variation ...
And Donny, when you were backing entertainers on cruise ships or concerts, weren't the arrangements always the same? ... did you find that boring?
Well, I don't know where I'm going with all this, just some thoughts on the subject I guess ...