I kind of disagree with Richard--owing to the fact that I played in a "international" band for a long time, but also kind of agree with him, for the same reason.

Part of the reason I left off playing Russian, various sorts of Balkan, Scandinavian, and the odd Turkish or Arabic tune, was simply that I realized that the native players were drawing on personal experiences with the music and the culture that I could never have. And "native" is not the right word, because some of the best players I knew had adopted and assimilated--It is more a question of simply being there--

Still, I was always welcomed as a player--which hasn't always been true in the "American" music community--