These intimate, funny, engaging poems make forays into the philosophical, sneak into the personal, and are playfully profound. Stephen Bett has produced a double album of minimalist meditations on 78 musicians that expands its field of meaning on repeated listenings. Each side brings its own heroes and villains, accidents and colours. Every track is a delight. This is a book of poems celebrating music, but essentially the poems are for readers — no jazz expertise required.

“Bett’s poetry are offerings: they expose themselves like nude paintings, providing only the essentials and inviting the reader to extrapolate interpretation based on the subjective reading. This is authentic minimalist poetry. The words are so modestly beautiful in their arrangement upon the white page while showing an emotional intelligence within the micro-text.

At times, [Bett] demonstrates the understated gentleness of the English language with a human voice that makes the poetry so accessible to the layperson (while it beckons multiple readings from the widely read). To satisfy both types of readers is an incredible accomplishment.” — REM magazine in New Zealand.