I wouldn't call it exclusionary Bob, they just wanted to write good stuff, they were tired of the old formulaic chord changes and basic swing or latin rhythms. Take this for example:

Catwalk by Don Grusin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD1OXTrw7Tk

I absolutely love this tune and I have charted it out but I doubt I'll ever perform it live because good luck getting the guys together to rehearse this. The basic soloing section is easy but the horn lines and that theme? Not so much. This is what I call good fusion music, sort of classical/jazz. I like that violin.

I seriously doubt Grusin wrote that with the thought "Ha, try sitting in with this!" No, it's just good writing.

The thing to remember is all these guys are well educated masters of the old standards even though they don't perform them often. I found a vid of Jeff Lorber in a jam session doing Giant Steps. He played the absolute crap out of it. It was obvious he had studied it in school and knew it inside and out.

Bob

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