Excellent and thorough comments by Learsfool. I would add or expound on a couple of points:
During the dress rehearsal it is usually the INTENTION to play a work from beginning to end without interruption. That is not always what happens as the conductor may still decide that a particular passage requires additional work. It is not necessarily a "let's play the whole thing no matter what" approach. Another thing that happens during a dress rehearsal is that it is often the first and only time that all the pieces on the program will be rehearsed in "concert order". This is very important since up to that point the works will probably have been rehearsed in a different order than what the audience will hear for time-management reasons and to make concessions to the soloist's schedule.
Learsfool makes some important comments about conducting and rehearsal techniques and the different abilities of various conductors. The conductor/orchestra relationship is just that; a relationship. In fairness (to conductors), it should be pointed out that certain orchestras are notorious for and have reputations for being difficult for conductors to work with and do little to create an amicable working relationship with conductors. It is the job of a professional musician to work with a conductor, no matter his/her ability, in a way that will result in good music making. That doesn't always happen. Of course, as Learsfool correctly points out, some conductors make it difficult to impossible to do that and they reap what they sow. Young conductors, due to insecurity or otherwise, don't always respect or appreciate the incredible amount of experience that some of the older players in some orchestras have and don't understand the futility of trying to rule (conduct) with an iron fist. Still, as in any type of relationship, the best results are usually achieved by "taking the high road".
Fundamentally, the way that a jazz group rehearses is not terribly different from that of an orchestra. If it is an established ensemble the players know each other's playing intimately and time-management is not an issue. If it was, for instance, Miles' rhythm section rehearsing for Dizzy's birthday party there was probably little to no rehearsal time put in other than a discussion of what tunes they would play with the possible exception of a special arrangement of "Happy Birthday" that one of them came up with while in the car on the way there. If the tunes to be played were "standards" (in the broad sense or "standard" for that group) there really is no need to rehearse since they all know the tunes and will probably follow the usual format of "play the head (melody), improvised solo's (order to be decided before hand or even while playing the tune, melody and out". If the rehearsals are for, say, a recording or live performance of new (or unfamiliar) material it will be written down as a formal "chart" since it could be a difficult and complex tune with unusual chord changes. Eventually, however, most groups will have the tune (and chord changes) memorized. It should be pointed out that as complex as some of these jazz tunes are, they are all relatively short compared to symphonic music (duh!) and they lend themselves much more readily to memorization. The language of jazz has certain "rules" about its performance that very experienced player understands. These are part of the tradition and makes it possible for players that don't play together on a regular basis to perform at a credible level.
During the dress rehearsal it is usually the INTENTION to play a work from beginning to end without interruption. That is not always what happens as the conductor may still decide that a particular passage requires additional work. It is not necessarily a "let's play the whole thing no matter what" approach. Another thing that happens during a dress rehearsal is that it is often the first and only time that all the pieces on the program will be rehearsed in "concert order". This is very important since up to that point the works will probably have been rehearsed in a different order than what the audience will hear for time-management reasons and to make concessions to the soloist's schedule.
Learsfool makes some important comments about conducting and rehearsal techniques and the different abilities of various conductors. The conductor/orchestra relationship is just that; a relationship. In fairness (to conductors), it should be pointed out that certain orchestras are notorious for and have reputations for being difficult for conductors to work with and do little to create an amicable working relationship with conductors. It is the job of a professional musician to work with a conductor, no matter his/her ability, in a way that will result in good music making. That doesn't always happen. Of course, as Learsfool correctly points out, some conductors make it difficult to impossible to do that and they reap what they sow. Young conductors, due to insecurity or otherwise, don't always respect or appreciate the incredible amount of experience that some of the older players in some orchestras have and don't understand the futility of trying to rule (conduct) with an iron fist. Still, as in any type of relationship, the best results are usually achieved by "taking the high road".
Fundamentally, the way that a jazz group rehearses is not terribly different from that of an orchestra. If it is an established ensemble the players know each other's playing intimately and time-management is not an issue. If it was, for instance, Miles' rhythm section rehearsing for Dizzy's birthday party there was probably little to no rehearsal time put in other than a discussion of what tunes they would play with the possible exception of a special arrangement of "Happy Birthday" that one of them came up with while in the car on the way there. If the tunes to be played were "standards" (in the broad sense or "standard" for that group) there really is no need to rehearse since they all know the tunes and will probably follow the usual format of "play the head (melody), improvised solo's (order to be decided before hand or even while playing the tune, melody and out". If the rehearsals are for, say, a recording or live performance of new (or unfamiliar) material it will be written down as a formal "chart" since it could be a difficult and complex tune with unusual chord changes. Eventually, however, most groups will have the tune (and chord changes) memorized. It should be pointed out that as complex as some of these jazz tunes are, they are all relatively short compared to symphonic music (duh!) and they lend themselves much more readily to memorization. The language of jazz has certain "rules" about its performance that very experienced player understands. These are part of the tradition and makes it possible for players that don't play together on a regular basis to perform at a credible level.