Sadly, those Yamaha clinicians are the exception, not the rule, and even they are, to be perfectly frank, utterly dated and irrelevant to most under the age of 30 (maybe even 40!)...

I do however disagree a bit with chas. I am as willing to listen to virtuosity played on an arranger as much as any other instrument. No need for strong vocals, if the playing is strong enough (not the style, but the REAL playing being made on it). But yes, mostly that's pretty lacking, and relegated to hoary one finger approximations of the original melody, played usually without change on a variety of ill-advised sounds..!

But turn OFF most of what the arranger can do, strip it down to just the drums, maybe the bass line, and play your little brains out over that, and I think the arranger holds itself up pretty well.

I just wish the emphasis here was more about that, than how many OMB/NH gigs you did this week.