Updated on 4/18/18: In the list at the bottom, I added links to the few of the interviews that are available on YouTube. Also, here’s a link to a playlist of Talking Jazz Singles, which are 3-4 minute clips of many of the interviews.
About a year ago, I stumbled upon a collection of interviews on Apple Music called Talking Jazz by Ben Sidran. (As I write this, some of them are also available on Spotify.) From what I can tell, these are Sidran’s interviews with around 60 legendary jazz figures who were still active in the 1980s. (Apple Music has many of them, but not all.) Ranging in length from roughly 15 to 30 minutes each, they are organized into “albums” with cumbersome and inelegant titles like Talking Jazz Volume 04 Saxophone 01, featuring Phil Woods, Sonny Rollins, and Jackie McLean. Fortunately, the interviews within more than make up for the clinical sounding titles.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to call these interviews an absolute gift to jazz fans and the American people. The mere fact that Sidran completed this project guarantees that future generation will be able hear the voices of the greats, telling their stories and letting their guards down, just a little. I can’t possibly recommend these more highly.
If you’re so inclined, Amazon carries a 24-CD box set of the complete interviews for an eye-opening $280.
As bonus, here’s an NPR interview with Sidran about the project from 2007.
And here’s the complete list, as seen on Amazon:
- Miles Davis
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Don Cherry
- Red Rodney
- Freddie Hubbard
- Wynton Marsalis
- Phil Woods
- Sonny Rollins
- Jackie McLean
- Johnny Griffin
- Frank Morgan
- Charlie Rouse
- David Murray
- Arthur Blythe
- Steve Lacy
- Branford Marsalis
- Michael Brecker
- Grover Washington
- Paquito D’Rivera
- Pepper Adams
- Archie Shepp
- Herbie Hancock
- Keith Jarrett
- McCoy Tyner
- Charles Brown
- Jay McShann
- Dr. John
- Horace Silver
- Les McCann
- Joe Sample
- Don Pullen
- Barry Harris
- Michel Petrucciani
- Art Blakey
- Max Roach
- Mel Lewis
- Tony Williams
- Paul Motian
- Steve Gadd
- Richard Davis
- Marcus Miller
- Jon Hendricks
- Betty Carter
- Bobby McFerrin
- Ken Nordine
- Dave Frishberg
- Donald Fagen
- Mose Allison
- George Benson
- John Scofield
- Steve Khan
- Larry Coryell & Emily Remler
- Kevin Eubanks
- intro Gil Evans
- Gil Evans
- intro Carla Bley
- Carla Bley
- intro Clair Fischer
- Clair Fischer
- Max Gordon
- Rudy Van Gelder
- Ben Sidran
Wow! So can I get this as a podcast through iTunes?
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I don’t know about a podcast, as they’re streaming. I did see some of them on YouTube, though!
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