Why read Notes and Tones?

Book cover of Notes and Tones: Musician-To-Musician Interviews

Book description

Notes and Tones is one of the most controversial, honest, and insightful books ever written about jazz. 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…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Notes and Tones as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Richard J. Alley

Author

I was writing my novel in 2013, but 20 years earlier I’d picked up a book by the jazz drummer Arthur Taylor. I didn’t realize how much it influenced me until I went back to it again and again as I worked to get dialog and cadence and the ‘feel’ of jazz on paper. I prefer memoirs because I want to hear the shorthand, slang, and shortcuts artists take. This book has that and more. Taylor interviews the best of the best — Ornette, Roach, Dizzy, Nina. I like to think had my protagonist been real, he’d have been included…

From Richard's list on The best books to understand the culture and community of mid-20th century music and musicians.