Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews

Arthur Taylor

Hachette Books, Aug 5, 2009 - Music - 320 pages

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 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 This expanded edition is supplemented with previously unpublished interviews with Dexter Gordon and Thelonious Monk, a new introduction by the author, and new photographs.Notes and Tones consists of twenty-nine no-holds-barred conversations which drummer Arthur Taylor held with the most influential jazz musicians of the ’60s and ’70s—including:

Contents

• Introduction to the Da Capo Edition: 3
• Randy Weston: 19
• Ornette Coleman: 32
• Don Byas: 52
• Johnny Griffin: 66
• Eddie Lockjaw Davis: 83
• Leon Thomas: 100
• Dizzy Gillespie: 121
• Nina Simone: 148
• Sonny Rollins: 166
• Hampton Hawes: 179
• Freddie Hubbard: 197
• Elvin Jones: 219
• Art Blakey: 239
• Hazel Scott: 254
• Betty Carter: 270
• Thelonious Monk: 284

About the author

Arthur Taylor has drummed with Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and dozens of others. He has been called ”one of the great drummers to come out of the fertile Harlem bebop scene” (New York Times) and ”one of the best bandleaders living or dead” (Village Voice). His band, Taylor’s Wailers, has recorded several albums, and is based in New York City.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews
• Author: Arthur Taylor
• Publisher: Hachette Books, 2009
• ISBN: 0786751118, 9780786751112
• Length: 320 pages
• Subjects: Music / General