Jonathan Cott's cultural observations are so remarkably salient, his extensive interviews so priceless, that you almost feel obligated to wash your hands before picking up any sample of his journalistic divinity. For well over three decades, his eclectic, refined articles have both engaged and enlightened readers, perhaps most notably in the pages of Rolling Stone. As a UC Berkeley college buddy and co-conspirator of the Stone's Jann Wenner (on the short-lived Sunday Ramparts), Cott has been a contributor to the magazine since its debut issue, filing countless reviews and Q&A's with subjects as disparate as Bob Dylan, Glenn Gould and Jean Luc-Godard. Taken as a whole, his work not only entertains but provides his audience with what amounts to an intensive liberal arts education; often riddled with total-recall references to poetry, philosophy and mythology, it avoids elitism by the sheer force of his fervent, always accessible style.

Back to a Shadow in the Night is a flawless anthology of Cott's endeavors into the field of musicology and a truly monumental achievement in pop/classical scholarship. Added to Cott's other collections, this new book is an altogether brilliant and, at times, breathtaking kaleidoscope of diversified profiles, conversations and meditations that both reflect and reinforce Cott's singularly ardent voice and omniscient range.

The panoramic array of interviews alone is enough to banish scores of bloated music histories to a shameful cut-out bin purgatory. Back to a Shadow includes two interviews with John Lennon, one from 1968 (Rolling Stone's first), the other conducted just three nights before his December 1980 murder; two probing Dylan chats from the 1970s; exuberant dialogues with Mick Jagger, Ray Davies, Lou Reed and Van Morrison; and a well-balanced assemblage of ear-bending with Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, George Balanchine, Steve Reich and Jonathan Demme, to name but a few of the esteemed luminaries found within its contents.

The substance and passion that characterize Cott's interviews are apparent in his profiles as well, and Back to a Shadow in the Night boasts a fascinating selection. His consistently intriguing piece on Norman Greenbaum explains how Greenbaum was inspired to write "Spirit in the Sky" (which would become the fastest-selling single in Warner Bros.' history) after watching Porter Wagoner deliver a spiritual downer on his L.A.-based '60s TV show. His elegy to Buddy Holly, originally anthologized in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, is a magnificent tribute; Cott's ingeniously conceived lead ("According to American mythology, psychopaths and rock 'n' roll stars have almost invisible origins, springing parthenogenetically out of the headlines or onto the record charts as if they had no past") segues into a precise, enthusiastic backstory on Holly's milestones. And the poignant appreciation of gospel legend Marion Williams, whom Cott first encountered on the corner of Seventh and Jefferson at the B.M. Oakley Memorial Temple in North Philadelphia (later converted into the Greater Zion Church of God in Christ), is a fitting and truly sincere testimonial to her amazingly graceful talent.

While the robust smorgasbord of profiles/interviews found throughout the book amply demonstrate Cott's considerable acumen, it's the final section ("Reflections") that truly illuminates the author's virtuosic qualities. "The Rolling Stones: Back to a Shadow in the Night" is a wistful, resonant commentary penned during the group's post-Exile on Main Street, pre-Some Girls period of flaccid inertia. "Bob Dylan: Back Inside the Rain" is one of the best dissections of Dylan's oeuvre ever written -- period. Plus, a triptych of introspective pop musings, "Rockin' the Cradle: Rock 'n' Roll as Children's Literature," "Smokey Robinson and My Perfect Desert-Island Record" and "A Song for Dreaming" are custom-tailored forums for him to delightfully, insightfully riff on a behemoth jukebox of apropos titles relative to each respective essay.

In the preface to one of his first collections, Forever Young (1977), Cott explained that in the interviews that he most admired, "a person is allowed gradually to fill him- or herself in; the process by which this takes place is a dramatic interchange resulting in a realized embodiment of the meaning of personality." There can be no argument that he has indeed mastered this process and has raised it to an art form throughout his career. Back to a Shadow in the Night triumphs as both a mesmerizing showcase of Cott's enduring preeminence as an interview practitioner, and as a captivating freeform prose broadcast of musical innovators.