Chet, I agree, but gargoyle also said "it takes steel to sharpen steel." You can only learn the basics of the tunes at home, and I'm all for that. When you play in a session, you learn how what is played differs from what's written, how solos work, how to change tempo, how to go from one tune to another, how to play backup, how to not play sometimes, and myriad music-related social skills. If that "practice at home" bit were enforced, no one would ever learn a new tune at a session - "If you don't already know it, don't play."

I fully understand there are "invitation only" sessions, and group practices - no problem. I only object to open session that aren't.