audiobook Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life by Wynton Marsalis; Geoffrey Ward in Arts-Photography

Description

ldquo;In this book I hope to reach a new audience with the positive message of Americarsquo;s greatest music; to show how great musicians demonstrate on the bandstand a mutual respect and trust that can alter your outlook on the world and enrich every aspect of your lifendash;from individual creativity and personal relationships to conducting business and understanding what it means to be American in the most modern sense.rdquo;ndash;Wynton MarsalisIn this beautiful book; the Pulitzer Prize-winning musician and composer Wynton Marsalis explores jazz and how an understanding of it can lead to deeper; more original ways of being; living; and relatingndash;for individuals; communities; and nations. Marsalis shows us how to listen to jazz; and through stories about his life and the lessons he has learned from other music greats; he reveals how the central ideas in jazz can influence the way people think and even how they behave with others; changing self; family; and community for the better. At the heart of jazz is the expression of personality and individuality; coupled with an ability to listen to and improvise with others. Jazz as an artndash;and as a way to move people and nations to higher groundndash;is at the core of this unique; illuminating; and inspiring book; a master class on jazz and life by a brilliant American artist. Advance praise for Moving to Higher Groundldquo;An absolute joy to read. Intimate; knowledgeable; supremely worthy of its subject. In addition to demolishing mediocre; uniformed critics; Moving to Higher Ground is a meaningful contribution to music scholarship.rdquo;ndash;Toni Morrisonldquo;I think it should be in every bookstore; music store; and school in the country.rdquo; ndash;Tony Bennett ldquo;Jazz; for Wynton Marsalis; is nothing less than a search for wisdom. He thinks as forcefully; and as elegantly; as he swings. When he reflects on improvisation; his subject is freedom. When he reflects on harmony; his subject is diversity and conflict and peace. When he reflects on the blues; his subject is sorrow and the mastery of itndash;how to be happy without being blind. There is philosophy in Marsalisrsquo;s trumpet; and in this book. Here is the lucid and probing voice of an uncommonly soulful man.rdquo;ndash;Leon Wieseltier; literary editor; The New Republic ldquo;Wynton Marsalis is absolutely the person who should write this book. Here he is; as young as morning; as fresh as dew; and already called one of the jazz greats. He is not only a seer and an exemplary musician; but a poet as well. He informs us that jazz was created; among other things; to expose the hypocrisy and absurdity of racism and other ignorances in our country. Poetry was given to human beings for the same reason. This book could be called ldquo;How Love Can Change Your Life;rdquo; for there could be no jazz without love. By love; of course; I do not mean mush; or sentimentality. Love can only exist with courage; and this book could not be written without Wynton Marsalisrsquo;s courage. He has the courage to make powerful music and to love the music so; that he willingly shares its riches with the entire human family. We are indebted to him.rdquo; ndash;Maya AngelouFrom the Hardcover edition.