Here’s one from Bill Crow’s "Jazz Andecdotes:"


A jazz bass player found himself without work. To pay the rent, he took a job with a society trio on a cruise ship. The job required that the bass player and drummer keep to the society formula, two bass notes to each measure, and a crisp afterbeat on the drums. Whenever the bassist would forget himself and play a few measures of four-four, the leader would whisper, “Stay in two!” “We could swing more if we played in four,” complained the bassist to the drummer.

“I know man, but this is the gig.”

After a week calm weather, the ship ran into a hurricane. Terrible waves dashed the ship about and it burst a seam. Water began to come in faster than the pumps could get rid of it. The passengers were told to put their life jackets and prepare to abandon ship. To calm the terrified passengers, the leader of the trio gathered his musicians and began to play. As the passengers climbed into the lifeboats, the ship began to sink. The bassist said to the drummer, “Screw it, man, let’s play in four!”