That is exactly what I tried but to no avail. It doesn't return any results. I'm assuming (note: assuming) that its a qwirk with Access or ODBC that I'm just not accounting for. Anymore ideas are VERY much welcome.. thanks guys.

edit FYI my query will run correctly with that syntax but does not produce the same results as running it interactively. I get no results in script, and the appropriate number in the interactive