Great reply, Mr. Kadleck. I couldn't agree more.
"Patterns For Jazz" may be a good book to look at, as it's filled with all sorts of nuts-n-bolts patterns to be played in all keys.
Sometimes the thought may be, "I have this lick in my head and I don't know what it would be on the horn." Singing it/playing it on the mouthpiece may bring the lick into "focus" enough to find the notes on the horn.
Once you have your lick(s) figured out, then theoretically you can figure out where they fit, in what tune or form, etc...It may seem "backwards" but in conjunction with learning chord/scale relationships it's a bit of pure creativity amongst all the book-learnin'.
Just my $.01 worth...
Shermock