Album Notes

“Sidran doesn’t just ask his guests questions, he interacts with them much in the same way he would if he were accompanying them on a jazz gig, letting the soloist or the singer make a statement, followed by his response to the statement, adding to the overall vocabulary of the tune. This type of interviewing is a godsend to the jazz musicians who have had to put up with years of musically, and often times, racially insensitive questions, cliches and half-truths...Sidran’s poise, intelligence and ease of delivery puts the most guarded musician at ease, as evidenced by his sensitive interview with the “Prince of Darkness”, Miles Davis.”

-- Eugene Holley Jr., Quarterly Black Review of Books


“Ben’s knowledge about the music an interest in the music is really inspiring to us as musicians” -- Max Roach


“Ben Sidran’s message (is) that we are all fans, in one way or another, and that our job is to be true to the demands of our fandom. If we deal with the music we love on its own terms, speaking to it as honestly and as directly as it has spoken to us, then we have earned the right to call some of its freedom our own.” -- Chicago Tribune


“(Sidran) covers virtually all stylistic twists since bebop, from cornerstones (Miles and Diz) to Young Turks (Wynton / Branford) -- even less obvious choices like Donald Fagen, Charles Brown and Steve Gadd. The conversations are relaxed and illuminating.” -- Scott Isler, Musician Magazine


“Sidran knows a lot about these people and he’s excited about their art, so he didn’t find it hard to get them to talk. He gives us as much of the atmosphere as he can, preserving the verbal idiosyncrasies....we can hear it. As you read, light bulbs switch on: that’s what was going on when she recorded that; now I can see where he got that sound.” -- Greg Burk, LA Weekly


“...a fascinating kaleidoscopic view of some (jazz’s) major proponents, in their own words.” -- Philadelphia Tribune