Stephen T. Botek laid the groundwork for a career as a jazz musician, but set it aside to pursue his medical degree, furthering his bid to escape the trappings of his coal-mining hometown and a future down in the mines. Botek's journey takes him through Columbia University, touring the world with the U.S. Air Force Band and the USO to a resort in New Hampshire's White Mountains, and finally to Italy. Stymied by American schools and their methodologies, Botek travels to Italy to finish his schooling, despite not speaking the language. Taking on medicine, he finds a world less open to the improvisation and freeform stylings that characterized his first love, jazz. The follow-up to his celebrated memoir, Song on My Lips: Jazz Greats Were My Mentors, this book recounts the further adventures of a quirky iconclast. Botek's attention to detail offers riveting anecdotes, at once entertaining and educational.

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Stephen T. Botek grew up in a musical family and had excellent musical training from a young age. He studied music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY then, when the Korean War broke out, he joined the US Air Force Band as a clarinetist and chorus member. After the war, he entered Columbia University to major in psychology and pre-med. To finance his education he spent his summers touring the world with the United Services Organization. He became a medical doctor and eventually a psychiatrist. At home and abroad he enjoyed playing both clarinet and saxophone, rubbing shoulders and sharing the stage with many extraordinary musicians. He currently lives in New York City.