Last week I stopped by the Flipside's open mic night.   There was a guy playing guitar behind someone who was singing.   I commented to Jeff Riales how tasty his playing was.   They guy obviously has some serious chops,  but he wasn't at all flashy about it.  Very understated and restrained.   Jeff replied,  "He must know the old addage:  Never miss an opportunity to not play."

Man,  does that make sense to me.   I wish more people understood that its ok to not play every single beat of every single measure in a song.   I think some people get nervous or uncomfortable if they're on stage and they're not doing something.    I think a lot of that comes from the Jam Band scene where everyone is playing all at the same time for long periods of time.   I've written before that I don't have much use for that.    I prefer the old jazz tradition where everyone gets a chance to show what they've got,  but they're not stepping all over each other all the time.   A few well placed spaces can be more powerful than a flurry of notes.