Just as an update to this...
WordPress by itself worked fine with roles.
I could set permissions using the 'Members' plugin, and shortcodes from Justin Tadlock
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/members/
http://justintadlock.com/archives/20...s-only-content
Once the bridge, is active, however...
The "member" and "visitor" shortcodes still work, while the "access" ones do not.
Content between "access" codes is simply hidden.
The bridge doesn't seem to understand capabilities or roles fully.
Not sure where the error lies...