They say that if you want to understand why an instrumentalist plays the way he or she plays, listen to them speak.

That makes total sense when hearing Wayne Shorter or Ornette Coleman being interviewed.

And now, courtesy of Ben Sidran, there’s never been a better chance to hear other examples of this. Sidran is a renowned pianist/composer and author of three excellent music books: ‘Black Talk’, ‘The Ballad Of Tommy LiPuma’ and ‘Talking Jazz’.

The latter was based on a series of interviews broadcast on USA’s National Public Radio between 1984 and 1990. And now we can hear them in their entirety.

And what a fascinating collection it is. Many interviewees go against type: those with a reputation for being ‘taciturn’ (Paul Motian, Donald Fagen, Tony Williams, Miles) are open and light-hearted.

Some musicians have their axes with them – we hear modern masters John Scofield, John Patitucci, David Sanborn and Steve Khan demonstrate their harmonic secrets. I asked the latter for his recollections of the ‘Talking Jazz’ interview:

It was done on 23 October 1984 at Roxy Recording, located at 648 Broadway, NYC – which was downtown, near Soho. It was conducted from 1-3pm! How about THAT?!

Elsewhere, Art Blakey talks touchingly about his appeal to a young, eager London crowd, Carla Bley is amusingly honest and Kevin Eubanks sounds 30 years ahead of his time, discussing global warming and environmental disasters.

It’s also fascinating to hear lost masters’ voices on tape, speaking with such candour: Gil Evans, Johnny Griffin, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and many more.

Sidran is a perfect host/interviewer, friendly and hip but not scared to ask the tough questions.

Don’t miss. Listen to the interviews on Bandcamp.