Will, there's also the fact that instrumentalists are constantly composing new tunes, and they are often indiscernable from old ones. Any largely instrumental gig you go to, even if you're talking about younger bands or ensembles, will probably contain as many new tunes as old ones, often welded together in the same tune set. Because there is this rich vein of contemporary composed material, it is almost inevitable that it will find its way into sessions - I can think of a couple of great John Kirkpatrick tunes which regularly get played, again by the younger generation of players, who probably don't even think about whether they're traditional or contemporary, or who might have written them - they just know they're good tunes.

As I related recently on another thread, there was a great session at Sidmouth this year where a stunningly good harmonica player (Will Pound) was tearing up Penguin Cafe Orchestra's "Music For A Found Harmonium" - and afterwards, another young musician I know, whom I'd consider to be very musically literate, said to me, "Wow - did you hear Will playing the MFI advert?"