Chas, those "mainstream musicians" are the ones watching me work while they can't find a music job that pays more than $50. a night!
Who cares if some of them look down their noses at me; I'm the one with the job they can't get!
Besides 99 percent of them don't have a clue what an arranger is. They assume everything is sequenced and I'm playing on top of it, because that's the only technology they've even heard of outside of a four or five piece band.
They are always willing to "go get their guitar" and sit in with me, or have me "call if you ever need a guitar player".
I'm not saying that what you say isn't true in many cases; just saying WHO CARES??
DonM