Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews

by Arthur Taylor

Notes and Tones is one of the most controversial, honest, and insightful books ever written about jazz. It consists of twenty-nine no-holds-barred conversations which drummer Arthur Taylor held with the most influential jazz musicians of the '60s and '70 Art Blakey Betty Carter Don Cherry Kenny Clarke Ornette Coleman Miles Davis Kenny Dorham Dizzy Gillespie Hampton Hawes Freddie Hubbard Elvin Jones Carmen McRae Max Roach Sonny Rollins Nina Simone Randy Weston As a black musician himself, Arthur Taylor was able to ask his subjects hard questions about the role of black artists in a white society. Free to speak their minds, these musicians offer startling insights into their music, their lives, and the creative process itself. This expanded edition is supplemented with previously unpublished interviews with Dexter Gordon and Thelonious Monk, a new introduction by the author, and new photographs.

Genres: Music

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 1976

Reviews

[Ken Weiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful

Interesting read especially now as the Black Lives Matter movement is on all of our minds. Every single musician interviewed discussed some aspect of the black experience in America.

[Richard Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible!

[Matthew Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enlightening and solid series of interviews with jazz greats by the superlative drummer Art Taylor. Pulls no punches.