These days, the only way to get your band booked is to write new original music. It is also an important way to translate the stuff that you hear in your head in an ideal way and raise your annual income simultaneously. It is easier than you think; it is actually just plain work.
In this ensemble I expect every week from at least two members new compositions that comply my directions of a ballad, a rock song, a pop song, an odd meter song, a Brazilian song etc..
It will force you to start with a rather mediocre idea and I’ll teach you how to turn this into great stuff. After a while you will understand that it is a matter of quantity to produce the occasional masterpiece! Why play compositions by Jason Moran or Chris Potter if you can write it yourself?