""The Jazz Ear" will be a permanent part of learning how to listen inside the musicians playing."--Nat Hentoff, "Jazz Times"

Jazz is conducted almost wordlessly: John Coltrane rarely told his quartet what to do, and Miles Davis famously gave his group only the barest instructions before recording his masterpiece "Kind of Blue." Musicians often avoid discussing their craft for fear of destroying its improvisational essence, rendering jazz among the most ephemeral and least transparent of the performing arts.

In "The Jazz Ear," acclaimed music critic Ben Ratliff discusses with jazz greats the recordings that most influenced them and skillfully coaxes out a profound understanding of the men and women themselves, the context of their work, and how jazz--from horn blare to drum riff--is conceptualized. Ratliff speaks with Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, and others about the subtle variations in generation and attitude that define their music.

Playful and keenly insightful, "The Jazz Ear" is a revelatory exploration of a unique way of making and hearing music.

Ben Ratliff has been a jazz critic at "The New York Times" since 1996. The author of "Coltrane: The Story of a Sound" and "The New York Times Essential Library: Jazz," he lives in Manhattan with his wife and two sons. Jazz is conducted almost wordlessly: John Coltrane rarely told his quartet what to do, and Miles Davis famously gave his group only the barest instructions before recording his masterpiece "Kind of Blue." Musicians are often loath to discuss their craft for fear of destroying its improvisational essence, rendering jazz among the most ephemeral and least transparent of the performing arts.
In "The Jazz Ear," the acclaimed music critic Ben Ratliff sits down with jazz greats to discuss recordings by the musicians who most influenced them. He coaxes out a profound understanding of the men and women themselves, the context of their work, and how jazz--from horn blare to drum riff--is created conceptually. Expanding on his popular interviews for "The New York Times," Ratliff speaks with Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, and others about the subtle variations in generation, training, and attitude that define their music. Playful and insightful, "The Jazz Ear "is a revelatory exploration of a unique way of making and hearing music. "In his introduction to "The Jazz Ear," Ratliff explains what he learned by listening to musicians as they were listening to other players: 'What are the things they notice? What are their criteria for excellence? What makes them react involuntarily? The answers indicate what a musician values in music, which comes to connect what a musician believes music is for in the first place. And that is the big thing, the big question, from which all small questions descend.' That's why "The Jazz Ear" will be a permanent part of learning how to listen inside the musicians playing . . . Clearly, jazz has also been at the center of the unbroken circle of Ben Ratliff's life all these years."--Nat Hentoff, "Jazz Times" "In this fascinating collection of interviews, "New York Times" music critic Ratliff engages 15 of jazz's biggest names (Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter) to listen to and comment on the music that has shaped and inspired them."--"The Boston Globe
""There's a country music song, 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?' of which I never tire, and it jumped to mind as I was reading an advance copy of Ben Ratliff's characteristically illuminating new book, "The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music" . . . You may have seen some of them in Ratliff's "Listening With" series in "The New York Times." He not only has a deep, far-ranging knowledge of jazz, but like Count Basie comping his band, Ratliff leaves breathing and feeling space for the musician with whom he's talking . . . In his introduction to "The Jazz Ear," Ratliff explains what he learned by listening to musicians as they were listening to other players: 'What are the things they notice? What are their criteria for excellence? What makes them react involuntarily? The answers indicate what a musician values in music, which comes to connect what a musician believes music is for in the first place. And that is the big thing, the big question, from which all small questions descend.' That's why "The Jazz Ear" will be a permanent part of learning how to listen inside the musicians playing . . . Clearly, jazz has also been at the center of the unbroken circle of Ben Ratliff's life all these years--and we're all fortunate that "The New York Times" recognizes his value."--Nat Hentoff, "Jazz Times"
"I've pored over Ratliff's reviews and previous books: his "Times Essential Library: Jazz" proves its title is no hyperbole, and his "Coltrane: The Story of a Sound" defies jazz-bio convention in favor of heady analyses. It's a rare trick to be writerly and accessible at once, but Ratliff pulls it off: He assumes intelligence of his reader but not knowledge, defining concepts and cross-pollinations and allowing his insights to snowball. He carries the stateliness of historic "Times "critics like Robert Palmer, but lets his own predilections--he knows a lot about avant-garde heavy metal for a jazz aficionado--and his generation seep through, casting him off into uncharted critical waters. Here's to the future--on record and in print."--Evan Haga, "Jazz Times
""What's it like to listen to a Count Basie record sitting next to Hank Jones? Or to hear what Sonny Rollins has to say about Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young? "The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music," the latest offering from the fine "New York Times" jazz critic Ben Ratliff, considers those and many other tantalizing questions--questions that often have surprising answers . . . Ratliff asked 15 jazz musicians--from elder titans like Sonny Rollins and Hank