John,

When you one day become a player, you�ll look back at what you said here and understand it better. I think Ian would tell you the same thing. It's not so much a question of do you want to or NOT want to use pitch bend...or....can you sound good and get by without using it�or�will the "pitch bend police" write you up if you don't use it?

It's about hearing an arrangement in your head (while you�re playing) and realizing it through PB. When I�m playing a song, I don�t just hear a flat trumpet line in my mind�I also hear where I want to PB notes and how it adds to my forward momentum of the song. It brings me and my playing to life and hopefully that transcends to the audience.

A good example (though not the only one) is St. Louis Blues. You really can�t play that effectively without PB. Another tune I do is Clyde McCoy�s Sugar Blues. The original is made up of bent notes. The song is so simple you have no choice. And then there�s every other song on the planet that benefits from PB.

That PB really helps get what�s inside of me OUTSIDE of me. I almost get a high when I bend a note. But that�s me�.I just happen to have a fetish for PB the way some folks have a fetish for �smilies.�

Lucky