I agree with Brendy - the ornamentation comes AFTER. There are some things you only learn by playing. You can listen until your ears fall off, but the ornamentation may not make much sense until you play the tune with others and hear how what they play compares to what you're playing,

There are people who will walk into any situation (be it a session, a conversation, Mudcat) and not like (or not understand) the way the group does something so they expect the group to change to their way, or complain about "too many rules." I don't think Flute is like that, or he/she wouldn't have noticed what the other players seemed to think.

I think most people here who've played in sessions have had some experience that supports the following - some of the most supportive musicians are some of the best. Some of the biggest music snobs are some of the most mediocre musicians. And some of those who have the best "feel" for the music are those who can't yet play fancy.

I'd talk to some of the other musicians and ask them what they think. I'll bet they say something like "Ah, he's just an old blow-hard - don't listen to him." Blow-hards often need to be taken down a notch. That's probably what happened to him at some point, and that's what he now thinks he needs to do for others.

Keep playing.