From journeymen musicians to stars with many albums to their name, Mixed Messages includes interviews with 21 American jazz musicians - on music, mostly, but the world intrudes, as it does with the best of jazz music. The musicians range from the trombonist Louis Nelson, who was born in 1902, through the New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis, who is still playing, and on to Byron Stripling, who plays trumpet with his Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Mixed Messages is lavishly illustrated with rare and original photographs, and will be of interest to any serious follower of jazz.