Chas, the bar for 'thinking' like a GREAT sax player is so high, I don't even try! They are the gods of music, IMO, for all I would LIKE it to be piano players!

But, when a sax player plays the blues, he's going to scoop, he's going to bend, he's going to moan! And NOBODY ever moaned at a constant pitch!

You can't even play a blues scale correctly on a keyboard without using a pitch bend lever... You can SING one, but an equal tempered keyboard can't play it. The thirds, the sevenths, they aren't Western... They are flattened a bit (or a lot!) and that's what makes it the blues. The flattened passing notes, the scooped notes... all define the blues.

We all know and cringe whenever we hear someone with a classic background TRYING to play the blues or jazz. And playing a sax sound on straight notes, no bend lever has exactly the same effect. For me, it's fingernails on a chalkboard! If I can't use the bend lever (say I'm comping with the LH) I NEVER play a sax lead. Better to miss it altogether than screw it up, IMO. It's not about FOOLING anyone that they are hearing a sax. Only a fool would be fooled! But, without that pitch indeterminacy, it's not a soulful sound, IMO. I'd rather use something that is SUPPOSED to be pitch stable (vibes, for instance) than a one hand sax, any day...

BTW, I'm coming up to Atlanta end of this month for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Hopefully, we can meet and get to see one another while I'm in the neighborhood!