Marsalis on Music

by Wynton Marsalis

Companion book to the popular PBS-TV series Marsalis on Music , introducing families, children, and music-hungry readers of all ages to the joy of good music, both classical and jazz. With an unrivaled freshness, charm, and sense of fun, Wynton Marsalis steps forward not only as a world-renowned jazz and classical performer, but as a great teacher in the tradition of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts.

Using wonderfully appealing examples and analogies―likening the rhythmic structures of music to playing basketball or football, teaching sonata form through a story about chasing a pet hamster through a shopping mall, drawing unprecedented and revealing connections between classical music and jazz―Wynton Marsalis makes so-called "difficult" music vivid, immediately graspable, and most of all fun. The result is the perfect book for families and schools eager to give children a strong cultural foundation without boring them―no risk of that here!―or for anyone who has ever felt interested in "serious" music only to be intimidated by its intricacies.

The most popular and acclaimed jazz musician and composer of his generation, Wynton Marsalis is also one of the world's leading classical trumpet virtuosos. Throughout his career he has made room for extensive work with children and students. He is co-founder and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. 150 full-color and 110 black-and-white photographs

Genres: Music, Jazz

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 1995

About the author

Wynton Marsalis has been described as the most outstanding jazz artist and composer of his generation. He has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture through his brilliant performances, recordings, broadcasts, and compositions as well as through his leadership as the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC). Wynton Marsalis is the music director of the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, which spends more than half the year on tour. He also hosts the popular Jazz for Young People concerts and helped lead the effort to construct JALC's new home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, which opened in October 2004.

Wynton Marsalis was born in New Orleans in 1961. He began his classical training on the trumpet at age twelve and entered the Juilliard School at age seventeen. That same year, he joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the acclaimed band in which generations of emerging jazz artists honed their craft, and subsequently made his recording debut as a leader in 1982. Since then, he has made more than forty jazz and classical recordings, earning nine Grammy Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win classical and jazz Grammys in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. His rich body of compositions includes the oratorio BLOOD ON THE FIELDS, for which he was awarded the first-ever Pulitzer Prize in music for a jazz composition.


Wynton Marsalis is an internationally respected teacher and spokesperson for music education and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of universities and colleges throughout the United States. Britain's senior conservatoire, the Royal Academy of Music, granted Wynton Marsalis honorary membership, the Academy's highest decoration for a non-British citizen. In France, the Ministry of Culture awarded him the most prestigious decoration of the French Republic, the rank of Knight in the Order of Arts and Literature. He also was appointed as a U.N. Messenger of Peace by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1991.


JAZZ A B Z is Wynton Marsalis's first book for children. A resident of New York City, he is the father of three boys.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started to flip through this over the weekend, to see how I could use it for school, and which of my kids it would work for. And guess what? I ended up reading the whole thing, cover to cover. It is fantastic! What's more, it taught me a whole lot of things.

Marsalis explains in kid-friendly ways the concepts of rhythm and form, the history of band music in America, and tips and tricks to make practicing really work for you. He also has biographies of notable composers whose music he describes and discusses.

This is a companion to a PBS series of the same name, and man, would I like to see that! Unfortunately, it's kind of expensive now, so I'll have to keep my eye out for a reasonable used copy, I suppose. Meanwhile, I will be using this book and its CD with all of my kids later this month, as a fun break from some of our more textbook-based subjects as Christmas approaches.

[Mark Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't know much about music except that you like it and want to learn a little bit more, see if you can find this original book with the CD... Or perhaps an online version. The book is colorfully illustrated and goes through all the basics of music itself in such an appealing way you'll wonder why you never learned it before.

[Johnna Gurgel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I thought/hoped Ted Gioia's jazz book would be.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice introduction for children and adults who do not know much about musical form.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro to music, especially for children

[Polly Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should get the soundtrack too to get the most our of it.