The Library Journal: "...ln light of Sidran's own career and in the broader historical context his discussion of the role of Jews in jazz particularly fascinates. All of this is done with fluid prose and a keen insight into pacing--much like a fine jazz performance...As a document of one man's personal and musical journey and as a work that presents the context for jazz in the late 20th century, this book is an unqualified winner. Highly recommended for all libraries and essential for those with significant jazz and/or popular culture collections."

Jeff Greenfield: "Be warned: if you pick up this book and begin casually reading you will be hooked—by Sidran's recollection of the 1960s, by his passion for music and by his equally passionate pain at what has happened to it. But even if you never lived through the Sixties, or never listened to a note of music, you will be hooked by Sidran's passion for life; from his worldwide travels to his journey back to his Jewish roots.

David Maraniss: "Ben Sidran writes the way he plays - brilliantly. He is the soulful outsider making his syncopated way through the world with amazing energy, imagination, curiosity, sorrow and joy. In the beginning, I fell in love with A Life in the Music, and I loved it all the way to the end."

Jackie Mitchard: "To fall in love with Ben Sidran's rich, funny, deeply felt memoir, A Life in the Music, you need not understand the shadow legends, the jazz greats who might have lived and died in obscurity except for the legacy of passion in their music. Though it is written by an acknowledged master of the genre to love this book it is not necessary that you love jazz only life. Ben writes better than he plays and he plays better than almost anyone."

Peter Straub: "Ben Sidran is as remarkable a man as he is a musician and A Life in The Music demonstrates how sure-footedly he has allowed his love for improvised music to translate into wise, humane, and profoundly grown-up values. This deeply moving book begins as a memoir and ends as the only really convincing Guide to Life I've ever read."

Benny Golson: "There are 3 kinds of people. Some people make it happen. Some people wait for it to happen. And some people ask 'what just happened'? Ben Sidran is clearly the first kind."

Jon Hendricks: "Ben Sidran is one of my unsung heroes. When I first met him as a young man, he was in this music. Not skirting around it, not contemplating it; he was in it. And he's been in it ever since. He started out knee deep and now he's neck deep. And he's still diving."