Jazz spoken here: Conversations with twenty-two musicians

This book features interviews with 22 major jazz figures, including Art Blakey, Anthony Braxton, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Tommy Flanagan, Dizzy Gillespie, Chico Hamilton, Lee Konitz, Charles Mingus, Clark Terry and Henry Threadgill. These musicians reflect on their early influences and personal visions, the jazz tradition and the politics of survival in a country that historically has ignored one of its indigenous art forms. These improvisers and composers represent diverse generations and philosophies and a full range of styles, from swing to bop, fusion and free jazz. They speak eloquently about their work, and candidly about the current state of music in the US. These interviews describe what the life of a jazz musician is really like. Each interview begins with a brief biographical introduction and ends with a selected discography.