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Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life
“In this book I hope to reach a new audience with the positive message of America’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 life–from individual creativity and personal relationships to conducting business and understanding what it means to be American in the most modern sense.”
–Wynton Marsalis
In 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 relating–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 art–and as a way to move people and nations to higher ground–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 Ground
“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.”
–Toni Morrison
“I think it should be in every bookstore, music store, and school in the country.”
–Tony Bennett
“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 it–how to be happy without being blind. There is philosophy in Marsalis’s trumpet, and in this book. Here is the lucid and probing voice of an uncommonly soulful man.”
–Leon Wieseltier, literary editor, The New Republic
“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 “How Love Can Change Your Life,” 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 Marsalis’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.”
–Maya Angelou
–Wynton Marsalis
In 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 relating–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 art–and as a way to move people and nations to higher ground–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 Ground
“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.”
–Toni Morrison
“I think it should be in every bookstore, music store, and school in the country.”
–Tony Bennett
“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 it–how to be happy without being blind. There is philosophy in Marsalis’s trumpet, and in this book. Here is the lucid and probing voice of an uncommonly soulful man.”
–Leon Wieseltier, literary editor, The New Republic
“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 “How Love Can Change Your Life,” 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 Marsalis’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.”
–Maya Angelou
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
87 people are currently reading
744 people want to read
About the author
Wynton Marsalis
77 books52 followersWynton 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
November 2, 2010
This was perhaps one of the most inspiring and captivating pieces of non-fiction I have ever read. This book is about what Jazz is and how the influence and understanding of Jazz (truly the best thing that Americans have created) can affect every aspect of your life. Even if you're not a musician, this book is extremely approachable and will help you become familiar with one of the best and most innovative forms of American art. Though it is not completely auto-biographical, the reader gets to know the Jazz legend Wynton Marsalis trough stories of childhood, adolescence, and his growth into an extremely respectable Jazz player and representative. The reader gets acquainted with how he personally learned Jazz and the art of improvisation through trial and plenty of error.
I learned two prominent things as a writer when I read this book that I have only come to realize now that I am doing much more writing. First I learned the power of conveying real life experiences in a simplistic, honest, and relatable way in order to show certain struggles and certain growths of character. The second thing I learned, which was the essence of the entire book, was learning to use improvisation and the influence of Jazz in my own writing. Improvisation is more of a feeling than anything and as that feeling changes and grows, so does artistic expression (I have been a Jazz bass player for a few years now). When I write, I don't approach a piece with the intent to draw some specific emotion or draw some specific, predetermined plot, but rather, I create characters, their chemistry and tension while also sticking them in some scenario and letting them interact and get to know each other. So, in a way, I make things up as go and what this accomplishes for me is the conveyance of the freshest and most picturesque expression of my current condition through the use of characters, plot, and setting. This is so because the essence of improvisation lies in creating something as you feel it rather than performing something that is rehearsed or writing something that is predetermined.
I learned two prominent things as a writer when I read this book that I have only come to realize now that I am doing much more writing. First I learned the power of conveying real life experiences in a simplistic, honest, and relatable way in order to show certain struggles and certain growths of character. The second thing I learned, which was the essence of the entire book, was learning to use improvisation and the influence of Jazz in my own writing. Improvisation is more of a feeling than anything and as that feeling changes and grows, so does artistic expression (I have been a Jazz bass player for a few years now). When I write, I don't approach a piece with the intent to draw some specific emotion or draw some specific, predetermined plot, but rather, I create characters, their chemistry and tension while also sticking them in some scenario and letting them interact and get to know each other. So, in a way, I make things up as go and what this accomplishes for me is the conveyance of the freshest and most picturesque expression of my current condition through the use of characters, plot, and setting. This is so because the essence of improvisation lies in creating something as you feel it rather than performing something that is rehearsed or writing something that is predetermined.
August 30, 2019
Being a fan of jazz (I'm listening to Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Thelonious Monk as I write this), the book interested me. But even better was how Marsalis demonstrated what jazz can teach us. OK, the subtitle is a little overstated, but still there are valuable lessons.
The first chapter talks about how jazz encourages both individual expression as well as working together as a group, which has applicability in so many areas of life. The second chapter sets forth the vocabulary of jazz, which is helpful for the non-musician as well as the musician. The third chapter delves into the blues, the incubator and life blood of jazz. The fourth chapter talks about the experience of playing jazz together. The fifth chapter deals with racial relations, as seen through the spectrum of jazz but also as it relates to community life in the United States. Chapter six goes through 13 of the greats of jazz, and contains recommendations of which recordings to check out. The last chapter is a plea for respect and trust, two traits of good jazz musicians, in our communal life and relationships.
Even if you are not a jazz fan, what Marsalis talks about is certainly applicable to other forms of music to some degree (he is, after all, an accomplished classical musician, too). And certainly his use of jazz to plead for more respect, understanding, and working together among people of all different backgrounds is worth hearing. Highly recommended!
The first chapter talks about how jazz encourages both individual expression as well as working together as a group, which has applicability in so many areas of life. The second chapter sets forth the vocabulary of jazz, which is helpful for the non-musician as well as the musician. The third chapter delves into the blues, the incubator and life blood of jazz. The fourth chapter talks about the experience of playing jazz together. The fifth chapter deals with racial relations, as seen through the spectrum of jazz but also as it relates to community life in the United States. Chapter six goes through 13 of the greats of jazz, and contains recommendations of which recordings to check out. The last chapter is a plea for respect and trust, two traits of good jazz musicians, in our communal life and relationships.
Even if you are not a jazz fan, what Marsalis talks about is certainly applicable to other forms of music to some degree (he is, after all, an accomplished classical musician, too). And certainly his use of jazz to plead for more respect, understanding, and working together among people of all different backgrounds is worth hearing. Highly recommended!
May 31, 2011
This book had been on my "to read" bookshelf much too long. I wish I had read it sooner. Recently, I have found myself drawn to listening jazz and blues much more than regularly. After reading it, I understand why. I am looking for music for meat on its bones, and the place to find that is definitely in jazz and blues. Why? Because as Marsalis eloquently states, the starting point for playing jazz is the complete mastery of one's instrument. This has to be combined with the ability to communicate and share the spotlight musically with other musicians, and to stay true to one's own groove, even when the crowd or other musicians don't get it. Eventually, they will come around.
For people who have never listened to jazz, a copy of this book and access to YouTube are about all you need to learn the basics. Marsalis is incredibly generous both to his readers and his fellow musicians. He recommends certain songs to illustrate certain points, e.g., using Louis Armstrong's opening trumpet solo on "West End Blues," or bass player Joe Smith responding to Bessie Smith's vocals on "Young Woman's Blues," to demonstrate call and response. When you take the time to listen to some of his examples as you progress through the book, you comprehend what he is saying much "more better."
Throughout this book, Marsalis uses events from his own life to demonstrate lessons from jazz. He is very candid about his own shortcomings and mistakes, such as unfortunate comments in interviews when he was a brash young man, or failing to appreciate the kid who stuck up for him in elementary school when the racial slurs were flying. He also does not shirk from talking about the greater issues that jazz illuminates, like racism and drug abuse. When talking about other musicians, he is also tells the truth. He talks about lives ruined by heroin, and others in decline through choosing fame over music. Throughout it all, though, what comes through is his love for the music and respect for the people who make it.
This book has so much heart, it swings. it definitely swings.
For people who have never listened to jazz, a copy of this book and access to YouTube are about all you need to learn the basics. Marsalis is incredibly generous both to his readers and his fellow musicians. He recommends certain songs to illustrate certain points, e.g., using Louis Armstrong's opening trumpet solo on "West End Blues," or bass player Joe Smith responding to Bessie Smith's vocals on "Young Woman's Blues," to demonstrate call and response. When you take the time to listen to some of his examples as you progress through the book, you comprehend what he is saying much "more better."
Throughout this book, Marsalis uses events from his own life to demonstrate lessons from jazz. He is very candid about his own shortcomings and mistakes, such as unfortunate comments in interviews when he was a brash young man, or failing to appreciate the kid who stuck up for him in elementary school when the racial slurs were flying. He also does not shirk from talking about the greater issues that jazz illuminates, like racism and drug abuse. When talking about other musicians, he is also tells the truth. He talks about lives ruined by heroin, and others in decline through choosing fame over music. Throughout it all, though, what comes through is his love for the music and respect for the people who make it.
This book has so much heart, it swings. it definitely swings.
January 16, 2024
Marsalis è coerente e onesto per come si avvicina allo scrivere di jazz nello stesso modo tradizionalista e conservatore proprio del suo suonarlo. In ciò rientrano (e si può dire che ci stiano) alcune opinioni non troppo condivisibili su alcuni musicisti (vedi l'ultimo Miles) e su alcuni approcci (il free, il jazz rock). Il problema è che proprio per questa coerenza rispetto alle idee del personaggio il libro risulta poco riuscito, soprattutto per i neofiti del jazz (cui immagino si rivolga): se è vero che fornisce qualche indicazione utile (la ben fatta nomenclatura iniziale; l'abbozzo di una discografia legata a specifici musicisti nella parte finale), rischia tuttavia di portare fuori strada per via delle opinioni troppo parziali e nette che esprime. Quanto agli "esperti" di jazz, non ci troveranno informazioni nuove o utili, ma solo opinioni da condividere o meno. Per tutti, neofiti o esperti, risulteranno noiose e mal riuscite le parti in cui Marsalis cerca di "filosofare" sul jazz applicato alla vita.
March 2, 2021
It's embarrassing that I give almost exclusively 5 star reviews to the books I read, but, well, I know my taste and I rarely stray from it. I like a known entity. Wynton Marsalis, however, was not a known entity at all. This is not a book that I would normally have ever read (or even heard of) but I am so glad I did!
I had the opportunity to hear Wynton Marsalis talk in January 2021, at the (Zoom presentation of the) Wasatch Speaker Series in Salt Lake City, UT. I knew he was a well respected and very talented jazz musician. And that's it. After listening to him speak for an hour, I just loved him. He was enthusiastic and passionate. You could feel love and compassion emanating from him through the screen. It was obvious that he was a man with ideas and stories to tell--stories that I wanted to hear. So I bought this book.
Have you ever had the opportunity to sit and listen to a person speak who is passionate about their subject? It doesn't really matter what they are talking about--it could be a hobby, a book they loved, their family, their religion, their life's work, anything--you just love to witness the joy of their experience through their words. That's what reading this book is like. It's like talking to somebody on an airplane who is so interesting that you wish the flight would never end. I have a very rudimentary knowledge of music. I have never sought out jazz. I couldn't understand even 5% of the musical terminology that Marsalis uses like a second language. None of that mattered. Wynton Marsalis is a man with a passion. This passion has informed his entire life. He is a teacher and a story teller. His medium is music and metaphor.
In the United States we have a common trope: baseball as life. The idea is that all life can be explained through the sport of baseball. In Moving to Higher Ground, Wynton Marsalis makes his case for "jazz as life." Jazz, he says, can teach us about understanding and cooperation. It allows for the freedom of the individual, but only if it works for the collective. It gives vent to all of the bad things and expresses the joy of the good. It is deeply rooted in American life, but it is also our gift to the world. It's the perfect reflection of all that America aspires to and may one day achieve. I, for one, am thoroughly convinced.
I had the opportunity to hear Wynton Marsalis talk in January 2021, at the (Zoom presentation of the) Wasatch Speaker Series in Salt Lake City, UT. I knew he was a well respected and very talented jazz musician. And that's it. After listening to him speak for an hour, I just loved him. He was enthusiastic and passionate. You could feel love and compassion emanating from him through the screen. It was obvious that he was a man with ideas and stories to tell--stories that I wanted to hear. So I bought this book.
Have you ever had the opportunity to sit and listen to a person speak who is passionate about their subject? It doesn't really matter what they are talking about--it could be a hobby, a book they loved, their family, their religion, their life's work, anything--you just love to witness the joy of their experience through their words. That's what reading this book is like. It's like talking to somebody on an airplane who is so interesting that you wish the flight would never end. I have a very rudimentary knowledge of music. I have never sought out jazz. I couldn't understand even 5% of the musical terminology that Marsalis uses like a second language. None of that mattered. Wynton Marsalis is a man with a passion. This passion has informed his entire life. He is a teacher and a story teller. His medium is music and metaphor.
In the United States we have a common trope: baseball as life. The idea is that all life can be explained through the sport of baseball. In Moving to Higher Ground, Wynton Marsalis makes his case for "jazz as life." Jazz, he says, can teach us about understanding and cooperation. It allows for the freedom of the individual, but only if it works for the collective. It gives vent to all of the bad things and expresses the joy of the good. It is deeply rooted in American life, but it is also our gift to the world. It's the perfect reflection of all that America aspires to and may one day achieve. I, for one, am thoroughly convinced.
February 7, 2010
My dad lent me this book because of our long-standing mutual interest in jazz and his hero-worship of Marsalis. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked it up, and was a bit concerned that I was getting into another new age feel-good pointlessness. However, Marsalis lived up to his reputation and delivered a fun book that touched on the history of some of jazz's main players, his own history, some fundamental aspects of jazz, and argued a case for jazz's ability to influence society and the individuals contained therein. The book is written in a conversational, colloquial style that's quite engaging and natural. It was a quick read, I learned some things, and I'm in the mood to listen to some jazz. I popped in Duke Ellington's Far East Suite as I wrapped up the final chapter and it was good.
November 27, 2022
Penserei a due stelle, ma ne scrivo tre, forse perché penso al Marsalis musicista.
Lettura carina per avere un’infarinatura del jazz e dei suoi albori.
Una spruzzata di aneddoti interessanti, ma
alcune riflessioni sono old old school, non le trovo più calzanti nel nostro contesto di oggi.
Nonostante tutto non sono pentita di averlo letto, ma ecco, dopo questa lettura sono rimasta uguale a prima
Lettura carina per avere un’infarinatura del jazz e dei suoi albori.
Una spruzzata di aneddoti interessanti, ma
alcune riflessioni sono old old school, non le trovo più calzanti nel nostro contesto di oggi.
Nonostante tutto non sono pentita di averlo letto, ma ecco, dopo questa lettura sono rimasta uguale a prima
April 5, 2025
“You don’t have to earn your creativity— you’re born with it. All you have to do is tend to it and unleash it. Every human being on earth is given the gift to create, and that creativity manifests itself in trillions of ways. There are no laws or rules. Creativity is unruly. Like a dream—you can’t control what comes to you. You can control what portion you choose to tell.”
March 10, 2021
An excellent history and appreciation skewed towards traditional American jazz and blues music. Could have said more about contemporary smooth jazz and its protagonists.
January 30, 2022
Interessante. Indirizzato a una cultura americana.
Read
November 9, 2013I didn’t warm to this book right away. Through a couple of chapters I was thinking that a reader would need some significant musical training to follow; and I mistakenly thought that Wynton Marsalis was trying to teach non jazz fans about jazz. Well, he may have been to some extent, but the success of this book isn’t that. His treatment of the blues as a music that backs up, supports, or is the foundation for good jazz was illuminating. But for me, the successes of this book were the bigger lessons that Marsalis provides about life. In a number of places he is candid about how he wasn’t always a great trumpet player; how he didn��t always know how to “swing” with other musicians; and how his mouth got him into trouble in saying things that he shouldn’t have said. As a DC hand dancer, I loved his obvious respect for swing dancing and his laments about how several generations now have lost the kind of connections to one another that we who still partner-dance enjoy. It’s hard not to give away too much of the story. I’ll just say that one particular lesson about dealing with the deficiencies in one’s talent as the key to success in any aspect of life … that’s one lesson I’m stealing. Folks are going to hear that from me, but I’ll always give attribution. Thanks Wynton!
April 6, 2020
Wynton Marsalis is an icon to me, both as a trumpet player and as a historian and advocate for jazz. He seems to be the unofficial Ambassador of Jazz, as the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in NY. It’s such a pleasure to read his writing about jazz, what makes jazz such a quintessentially American phenomenon and what it says about democracy and shared humanity, and get his takes (often tough but always fair) on a few of the all-time legends. Jazz teaches that everyone has a voice and a story to tell; that improvisation is how you find your voice, what works and what doesn’t; that people can do more together than by themselves, and to respect and trust one another; that the blues are part of life and playing the blues helps; that life’s more fun when it swings.
May 29, 2019
Having heard Mr. Marsalis give a talk at the Kenyon College Commencement, and watched him teach a master music class, I could hardly wait to read this book, as he is clearly much more than merely a very talented musician. The book is fascinating as he not only clearly explains the history of jazz, what it takes to be a good musician, both as an individual and as part of a group, and how some of the necessary skills to do so can also affect how to be in the rest of one's life and society. He is definitely a wise and thoughtful man.
February 15, 2020
A lot of empty, semi-theoretical, feel-good tripe whose import I honestly fail to understand.
Sometimes it feels like the author is about to make his point but it never happens.
Sure playing with others can teach you to be a part of a team and how to balance your needs with those of other people in it, but it is scarcely the sole domain of jazz, and Marsalis utterly fails to demonstrate how jazz is different from, say, rock'n'roll or any other collaborative effort in music. And most definitely, this shouldn't take 180+ pages.
This was a pain to read at times.
Sometimes it feels like the author is about to make his point but it never happens.
Sure playing with others can teach you to be a part of a team and how to balance your needs with those of other people in it, but it is scarcely the sole domain of jazz, and Marsalis utterly fails to demonstrate how jazz is different from, say, rock'n'roll or any other collaborative effort in music. And most definitely, this shouldn't take 180+ pages.
This was a pain to read at times.
January 9, 2018
This is the first of many books I will read, written by Wynton Marsalis. As he has finally shed his reputation as a young arrogant musician (not-so-young anymore), he is coming into his own as a master--not just musically, but philosophically as well.
This book was a quick read, but an intense one. And although it was written many years ago, I know what the current Marsalis wants to say with his words.
Overall, very inspiring and a must for jazz musicians and especially jazz lovers.
This book was a quick read, but an intense one. And although it was written many years ago, I know what the current Marsalis wants to say with his words.
Overall, very inspiring and a must for jazz musicians and especially jazz lovers.
November 19, 2019
You don't have to be a jazz fan to enjoy this wonderful read, but if you are one then it is likely to only add to your pleasure and fulfillment. The great trumpeter and Lincoln Center artistic director discussions jazz and music in general as life-enhancing. Skeptical? Read the first chapter and you'll probably end up finishing the book (maybe in one sitting).
May 3, 2021
Extraordinary book
A book that reveals how jazz lies at the centre of what it is to be human. Informative, absorbing and inspiring.
A book that reveals how jazz lies at the centre of what it is to be human. Informative, absorbing and inspiring.
November 14, 2025
I'm a trumpet player, so when I see nonfiction books that were even marginally written by trumpet players (I say marginally in this case because I'm pretty sure Marsalis' "co-writer" Geoffrey C. Ward functioned more like a ghost writer than an honest-to-God cowriter), I tend to pick them up. Sometimes I pick them up at library sales and they sit in literary Purgatory for three or four years - that's what happened to this book - but I get to all my books eventually, as I got to *Moving to Higher Ground* last month over a weekend full of concerts and other things that can distract you from reading, although I figured that they might distract you a little less if you're reading about music. My little method worked out, and I ended up enjoying this more than I expected; it isn't a milk-toast book filled with faux spiritualism about jazz, so... yay Marsalis! Anyways, let's get down to business here.
Chapter One of *Moving to Higher Ground* starts with Marsalis remembering some of his earlier encounters with the world of music, from his father playing everchanging jazz rhythms (the kind that not many people listened to but everyone respected) to listening to jazz records at the age of twelve to playing in pop-funk groups as a teenager. He then goes on to lay out some life lessons about how learning to swing can teach you time and how jazz is all about communication and all those milk-toast things I was hoping Marsalis would avoid in this book. Chapter Two ("Speaking the Language of Jazz") takes us through a different little trip, that of jazz language. Marsalis explains what the Solo is, what scat is, what the shout chorus, the head chart, and swinging are - all things I've known about for a while since I've played in a couple jazz bands - along some slang I didn't know like cutting sessions. It was also good to see how Marsalis described some things, like calling chord progressions "the harmony". "Everybody's Music: The Blues" paints blues music in a certain kind of way: a twelve-bar structured harmony that's able to transmit all the sad things about life without making you sad when you play it. It's the quintessential American music, and it's not just for black people, even though some say it comes from black people - Marsalis recalls meeting Albert Murray through Stanley Crouch, the first black intellectual Wynton met who pulled from both white and black culture. It was a nicely written remembrance of both Marsalis' memories and the fact that the blues will find you anywhere.
Chapter Four goes through how it feels to play music and what starts as floaty sentiments roll into anecdotes, like of the rough family he grew up around who were more layered than you'd expect, some more technical bridging material, and then glimpses into jazz life like a two-in-the-morning jazz club show, a college swing dance where older folk actually lead the "mating rituals," a jazz festival retaining artistry despite growing investor involvement, a New Orleans jazz festival, and more... then Chapter Five ("The Great Coming-Together") shares thoughts on racism in America going back to Armstrong's time, insulting slang like "Dixieland," why jazz seems to have no contemporary definition, why contemporary America has a strange relationship with jazz, and how over Marsalis' lifetime, his thoughts on race have changed from blind anger (he gave an interview when he was young about how white people couldn't play, insulting the white rhythm section that played with and mentored him at the time) to harmonious acceptance; apparently he's gained wisdom with age. But some of that fire can still be seen in "Lessons from the Masters" where Marsalis talks about all these different influential musicians from Charlie Parker to Louis Armstrong to Blakey and Coltrance and Marcus Roberts and... Miles Davis, who he boldly said went from being to best to selling out and being the worst; fighting words before a much calmer and graceful conclusion....
When I read nonfiction - it's usually of the historical or zoological varieties - I like to learn things from it. That being said, I don't think that I learned very much from *Moving to Higher Ground*. I appreciated the different takes on the famous jazz artists that the genre often seems to be built around and found a few of the anecdotes quite interesting, but my foundational understanding of the blues hasn't changed; besides making me want to revisit more jazz records and improvise on the trumpet more often, it really wasn't that informative or infectious. That doesn't make it a bad book by any means, but it wasn't too impacting. I've seen a lot of people say that this book really changed how they think about things, though, so your mileage may very. That being said, from the literary mechanics perspective, I do think that Marsalis and Ward do a good job of keeping things rolling along and not feeling stale with a little too much time. When things are floatier and more generic, a cool anecdote or a change of subject usually swoops in pretty quickly to save the day, and I can definitely respect that even if the prose itself is more functional and decently smooth than any other positive attribute I could ascribe to it.
I did find Marsalis' opinions in this book interesting because I've always known him as the kind of grouchy, rigid Lincoln Jazz director who one of my jazz band directors once saw guilt-trip all the white people at his show because jazz isn't "their" music. So I was expecting a very bitter account of things, but it seems like my old director saw Marsalis in his youth because he has made a conscious shift to being accepting and more open-minded in both musical and social senses. There was specific anecdote that made me chuckle where Dizzy (mildly) chewed him out backstage for that one interview where he slandered all white people trying to play jazz music. This doesn't mean that Marsalis doesn't think that racism is a problem or that a lot of jazz history is black; he just thinks it's deeper than that, and that doesn't make him an Uncle Tom. I definitely had a bit more respect for Marsalis at the end of the book than I did at the beginning, and it's probably the specific clips from his life that I'll remember most about this book going forwards.
Overall, I liked the book, but I'd be hard pressed to give it too high of a rating because I didn't feel like I got all that much out of it. So... I'm gonna give it a 6.5/10. It's worth reading if you like the guy or you just like reading writings on jazz, but it's not an essential part of the canon or anything. Thanks for reading my own little contribution to the canon, though; I hope you got good things out of it. And I hope you get good things out of *Moving to Higher Ground* as well; until next time, best of luck with your reading...
Chapter One of *Moving to Higher Ground* starts with Marsalis remembering some of his earlier encounters with the world of music, from his father playing everchanging jazz rhythms (the kind that not many people listened to but everyone respected) to listening to jazz records at the age of twelve to playing in pop-funk groups as a teenager. He then goes on to lay out some life lessons about how learning to swing can teach you time and how jazz is all about communication and all those milk-toast things I was hoping Marsalis would avoid in this book. Chapter Two ("Speaking the Language of Jazz") takes us through a different little trip, that of jazz language. Marsalis explains what the Solo is, what scat is, what the shout chorus, the head chart, and swinging are - all things I've known about for a while since I've played in a couple jazz bands - along some slang I didn't know like cutting sessions. It was also good to see how Marsalis described some things, like calling chord progressions "the harmony". "Everybody's Music: The Blues" paints blues music in a certain kind of way: a twelve-bar structured harmony that's able to transmit all the sad things about life without making you sad when you play it. It's the quintessential American music, and it's not just for black people, even though some say it comes from black people - Marsalis recalls meeting Albert Murray through Stanley Crouch, the first black intellectual Wynton met who pulled from both white and black culture. It was a nicely written remembrance of both Marsalis' memories and the fact that the blues will find you anywhere.
Chapter Four goes through how it feels to play music and what starts as floaty sentiments roll into anecdotes, like of the rough family he grew up around who were more layered than you'd expect, some more technical bridging material, and then glimpses into jazz life like a two-in-the-morning jazz club show, a college swing dance where older folk actually lead the "mating rituals," a jazz festival retaining artistry despite growing investor involvement, a New Orleans jazz festival, and more... then Chapter Five ("The Great Coming-Together") shares thoughts on racism in America going back to Armstrong's time, insulting slang like "Dixieland," why jazz seems to have no contemporary definition, why contemporary America has a strange relationship with jazz, and how over Marsalis' lifetime, his thoughts on race have changed from blind anger (he gave an interview when he was young about how white people couldn't play, insulting the white rhythm section that played with and mentored him at the time) to harmonious acceptance; apparently he's gained wisdom with age. But some of that fire can still be seen in "Lessons from the Masters" where Marsalis talks about all these different influential musicians from Charlie Parker to Louis Armstrong to Blakey and Coltrance and Marcus Roberts and... Miles Davis, who he boldly said went from being to best to selling out and being the worst; fighting words before a much calmer and graceful conclusion....
When I read nonfiction - it's usually of the historical or zoological varieties - I like to learn things from it. That being said, I don't think that I learned very much from *Moving to Higher Ground*. I appreciated the different takes on the famous jazz artists that the genre often seems to be built around and found a few of the anecdotes quite interesting, but my foundational understanding of the blues hasn't changed; besides making me want to revisit more jazz records and improvise on the trumpet more often, it really wasn't that informative or infectious. That doesn't make it a bad book by any means, but it wasn't too impacting. I've seen a lot of people say that this book really changed how they think about things, though, so your mileage may very. That being said, from the literary mechanics perspective, I do think that Marsalis and Ward do a good job of keeping things rolling along and not feeling stale with a little too much time. When things are floatier and more generic, a cool anecdote or a change of subject usually swoops in pretty quickly to save the day, and I can definitely respect that even if the prose itself is more functional and decently smooth than any other positive attribute I could ascribe to it.
I did find Marsalis' opinions in this book interesting because I've always known him as the kind of grouchy, rigid Lincoln Jazz director who one of my jazz band directors once saw guilt-trip all the white people at his show because jazz isn't "their" music. So I was expecting a very bitter account of things, but it seems like my old director saw Marsalis in his youth because he has made a conscious shift to being accepting and more open-minded in both musical and social senses. There was specific anecdote that made me chuckle where Dizzy (mildly) chewed him out backstage for that one interview where he slandered all white people trying to play jazz music. This doesn't mean that Marsalis doesn't think that racism is a problem or that a lot of jazz history is black; he just thinks it's deeper than that, and that doesn't make him an Uncle Tom. I definitely had a bit more respect for Marsalis at the end of the book than I did at the beginning, and it's probably the specific clips from his life that I'll remember most about this book going forwards.
Overall, I liked the book, but I'd be hard pressed to give it too high of a rating because I didn't feel like I got all that much out of it. So... I'm gonna give it a 6.5/10. It's worth reading if you like the guy or you just like reading writings on jazz, but it's not an essential part of the canon or anything. Thanks for reading my own little contribution to the canon, though; I hope you got good things out of it. And I hope you get good things out of *Moving to Higher Ground* as well; until next time, best of luck with your reading...
July 10, 2023
Marsalis con questo testo vuole farci scoprire la gioia del Jazz e dello Swing, attraverso storie di artisti, aneddoti e, forse la cosa più importante, la rivendicazioni di diritti ci mostra come quest'arte è fondamentale per credere in se stessi e guardare al futuro con ottimismo.
Marsalis si impegna nel dare anche alcune nozioni teoriche del Jazz per permetterci di godere e comprendere maggiormente, non solo quello che vuole discorrere lungo il libro, il Jazz come musica.
Inoltre a fine libro, si cerca di apprendere qualche importante lezione da grandi maestri come: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie e altri.
Il messaggio è più chiaro che mai, credere in se stessi e nel futuro. I padri del Jazz erano persone che hanno vissuto i tempi della segregazione, della discriminazione, subendo ogni genere di ingiustizia, eppure anche loro credevano che le cose col passare del tempo sarebbero migliorate, il loro ottimismo era, ed è, qualcosa di invidiabile. Molti di loro, tramite i loro strumenti, hanno contagiato il mondo intero e l'hanno lasciato ammaliato delle loro composizioni. Il musicista Jazz (quello bravo) da tutto se stesso, nel senso che esprime tutto se stesso in ogni performance che fa.
Spesso il Jazzista non è da solo, ma in compagnia di altre persone che hanno la tua stessa voglia di esprimersi, è fondamentale andare in simbiosi, ognuno deve ascoltare l'altro, non solo quando si suona, ma anche quando non si suona. Ascoltare è fondamentale... una delle cose più fondamentali.
"Il Jazz ti ricorda che devi fa funzionare le cose insieme ad altri. È difficile, ma si può fare"
Marsalis si impegna nel dare anche alcune nozioni teoriche del Jazz per permetterci di godere e comprendere maggiormente, non solo quello che vuole discorrere lungo il libro, il Jazz come musica.
Inoltre a fine libro, si cerca di apprendere qualche importante lezione da grandi maestri come: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie e altri.
Il messaggio è più chiaro che mai, credere in se stessi e nel futuro. I padri del Jazz erano persone che hanno vissuto i tempi della segregazione, della discriminazione, subendo ogni genere di ingiustizia, eppure anche loro credevano che le cose col passare del tempo sarebbero migliorate, il loro ottimismo era, ed è, qualcosa di invidiabile. Molti di loro, tramite i loro strumenti, hanno contagiato il mondo intero e l'hanno lasciato ammaliato delle loro composizioni. Il musicista Jazz (quello bravo) da tutto se stesso, nel senso che esprime tutto se stesso in ogni performance che fa.
Spesso il Jazzista non è da solo, ma in compagnia di altre persone che hanno la tua stessa voglia di esprimersi, è fondamentale andare in simbiosi, ognuno deve ascoltare l'altro, non solo quando si suona, ma anche quando non si suona. Ascoltare è fondamentale... una delle cose più fondamentali.
"Il Jazz ti ricorda che devi fa funzionare le cose insieme ad altri. È difficile, ma si può fare"
June 21, 2022
Como bailarina aficionada de swing, he disfrutado de leer sobre conceptos musicales del jazz, y la percepción de Wynton de músicos de distintas generaciones junto a recomendaciones de sus mejores obras. Pero sobretodo me ha gustado ver reflejados los valores que me gusta disfrutar no sólo en la comunidad del baile sino en otros entornos de mi vida; la práctica de escuchar al otro para poder crear algo que respete mi individualidad y a la par construya sobre lo que el resto también tiene que ofrecer.
A mi el swing me ha cambiado la vida, pero creo que el título es algo pretencioso y el libro se hace algo pesado a ratos. Me ha faltado la presencia de más mujeres en la escena del jazz, ya que tan sólo nombra a Billie Holiday. Se habla bastante sobre no hacer distinción por raza, en pos de los valores del jazz, pero el discurso me sabe a poco si sólo representa a los hombres.
A mi el swing me ha cambiado la vida, pero creo que el título es algo pretencioso y el libro se hace algo pesado a ratos. Me ha faltado la presencia de más mujeres en la escena del jazz, ya que tan sólo nombra a Billie Holiday. Se habla bastante sobre no hacer distinción por raza, en pos de los valores del jazz, pero el discurso me sabe a poco si sólo representa a los hombres.
August 10, 2023
took a while to finish but this was a joy to read. it got a little long-winded as some ideas were repeatedly drilled into the reader but we are given such a comprehensive, deep and insightful look into jazz and how applicable it is to life on a day-to-day basis. like learning how to really listen to each other, operating life with the goal of achieving a common good, staying true to yourself and your integrity by not giving into popular/contemporary trends, etc. Marsalis touched on so many things that young people (everyone really) especially need to hear. went in wanting to know more about jazz and came out feeling a vigorous need to connect with people through creativity and art and above all, love.
November 14, 2021
As a muscian, this book was a fun read. I particularly enjoyed the chapter in which Wynton duscusses lessons and stories that he learned from various jazz masters throughout the years. I also enjoyed the parallels he makes to music and society. However as a reader, I am left a little confused as to the "big picture" of this book. While there are plenty of clever observations and very detailed historical lessons, I feel like I am still waiting for the "change my life" part. The title of the book leaves me desiring something more profound. Maybe I just need to go practice my instrument and listen to some music and I will figure it out!
August 13, 2023
Wynton is obviously a very accomplished musician, but his ideas about how jazz and life are related are too over-the-top for me. Here's one example:
"When my son Jasper was born, he came out crying and gasping for air. The nurses snatched him up, cleaned him off, stuck a tube up his nose to clean his nasal passages, pricked his foot to take blood, and roughly poked and prodded every area that you wouldn't want to have poked and prodded. Welcome! Whew! Then, finally, they gave him back to his mama and she hugged all over him. Pain and love. That's the blues, right there."
"When my son Jasper was born, he came out crying and gasping for air. The nurses snatched him up, cleaned him off, stuck a tube up his nose to clean his nasal passages, pricked his foot to take blood, and roughly poked and prodded every area that you wouldn't want to have poked and prodded. Welcome! Whew! Then, finally, they gave him back to his mama and she hugged all over him. Pain and love. That's the blues, right there."
September 18, 2020
Ispirato, ricco di aneddoti, suggerimenti e guide all'ascolto. Peccato che l'edizione italiana sia rovinata da una traduzione a mio giudizio pessima, piena di calchi, inesattezze, a tratti veramente poco leggibile. Ho dato la terza stella perché il valore delle esperienze raccontate da Marsalis e il suo giudizio sui protagonisti del jazz e sui loro capolavori rimane comunque notevole, ma il testo così come è stato tradotto non la meriterebbe.
July 2, 2024
There was so much of this book that I loved, and it was fun to read. I met Wynton once, early on in his career, and one of my college colleagues plays in the LCJO. Obviously, Wynton is an incredible musician and leader and has the cred to write this book. I would disagree with and take offense to some of his criticisms of some of the greats, like Miles for example, but, I rather expected that much as well.
November 1, 2020
I picked this book on a whim and was handsomely rewarded. It’s about jazz of course but it’s more accurately about relationships, race, listening, art, and excellence. I’d like to buy it so I can start to go back through the recommended listening lists and get a fuller understanding of what he was talking about.
July 27, 2021
Inizialmente mi aveva coinvolto, mi è piaciuto leggere le esperienze dell’autore da ragazzo.
Andando avanti si perde totalmente.
Le riflessioni diventano sempre scontate e ingenue, gli aneddoti che racconta non giungono al punto, a tratti sembrano presuntuose.
Forse la cosa che mi ha fatto più arrabbiare è stato ritrovare una mentalità così chiusa, peraltro senza elaborare le sue affermazioni.
Andando avanti si perde totalmente.
Le riflessioni diventano sempre scontate e ingenue, gli aneddoti che racconta non giungono al punto, a tratti sembrano presuntuose.
Forse la cosa che mi ha fatto più arrabbiare è stato ritrovare una mentalità così chiusa, peraltro senza elaborare le sue affermazioni.
March 1, 2023
This man is so lovely. This is not a difficult book to read, but I was enjoying it so much, I decided to stretch it out and savour it. Chapter 6: Lessons from the Masters, contains thumbnails of a few different artists, and recommends a few albums for listening.
This book is a gem. As much fun to read as listening to music. Bravo Wynton Marsalis and Geoffrey C. Ward, and thank you!
This book is a gem. As much fun to read as listening to music. Bravo Wynton Marsalis and Geoffrey C. Ward, and thank you!
September 11, 2024
A bit scattered but otherwise an insightful look at jazz history, Marsalis’ personal history, and interpretations of jazz music as a distinctly American art. I must disagree about the supposed need to return to a more original jazz: I think there are always musicians doing this. The view also discounts current evolutions of the form and undercuts them quite significantly.
May 2, 2018
A thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring work exploring the history and nature of jazz, interspersed with anecdotes form Marsalis' life. You will most likely disagree with some of the author's opinions (I certainly did), but his perspective is always interesting. A quick and satisfying read.
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