Arno West wrote:
Counting/keeping time is after all the drummer's job ain't it?
Joking aside, it's everybody's job. When all the people involved can count then things get really tight. Even when you're playing solo it's a good skill to have. I found out (though not deliberately) that if you play bum notes but keep your timing you're far more likely to get away with it than if you play the right notes but lose the beat.
I've seen folk musos playing with no drummer and with songs where not every bar has the same number of beats. If they're good players and they all know where the short or long bars (or the extra beats) are then they can play that stuff with scary speed and precision.