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 ’70s-including:

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 This expanded edition is supplemented with previously unpublished interviews with Dexter Gordon and Thelonious Monk, a new introduction by the author, and new photographs.