Wynton’s Blogs
Wynton to discuss and sign his new book
Next week, Wynton is going to discuss and sign his new book: Moving to Higher Ground: How can Jazz change your life. On September 2, at 7:30 PM, he will be with Geoffrey C. Ward (doors open at 7:15 pm) at Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway @ 66th Street. The event is open to the public. If you need more info, please call 212.595.6859 or visit Barnesandnoble.com
On September 9, at 8:00 PM, Wynton will be with Budd Mishkin for a book discussion and signing at 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave @ 92nd Street – Kaufmann Concert Hall.
The event will also be recorded to be broadcast as part of “Live from the 92nd Street Y” fed to hundreds of non-profit organizations around the country.
Price: $27.00 all sections. To purchase tickets visit www.92y.org or call Y-Charge at 212.415.5500. The lecture is sponsored by Barnes & Noble.
The book will be in stores on September 2. 2008. You can pre-order it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Download the first chapter for free in PDF format.
Download the first chapter of Wynton’s new book
Wynton’s new book, entitled “Moving to Higher Ground: How can Jazz change your life” will be in stores on September 2, 2008.
Feel free to download the first chapter of the book (PDF - 78 kb).
You can also pre-order the book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Following you can find Wynton’s letter to readers of the new book.
Dear Reader:
When I first decided to become a musician, at the age of 12 or 13, inspired by my father, and by the New Orleans jazz tradition, I was under the impression that I had only to learn the fundamentals of music—rhythm, melody, harmony, texture—to progress as a musician. What I didn’t know then was that over the next three decades, jazz music would teach me many significant things about living. This book is my attempt to share some of the things I’ve learned through jazz about life.
Jazz can help us realize the potential of ourselves and of our country. We hear a lot these days about how important it is for Americans to come together. Well, we’ve been doing that on the bandstand for more than a century. Jazz was integrated long before Jackie Robinson made it to the Majors. It is the unique American music form. It can help us, personally and collectively, to move to higher ground. It proves many working metaphors for successful contemporary democratic engagement.
Central to the music of the great jazz musicians I write about in MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND: How Jazz Can Change Your Life, is the importance of being yourself—of prizing those things that make you unique and that express the truth of who you are—while recognizing the importance of listening to and responding to that same truth from other people. Without that kind of reciprocity, swinging, on stage or in everyday life, is impossible. With it, however, our collective creativity will assuredly take on all types of unimaginable and exciting new forms.
Jazz gives us soulful insights into history and the human condition. The blues, a universal musical form, was born to heal. Jazz helps you find, or hold on to, the proper balance between your right to have things your own way and your responsibility to respect others, while working with them to improvise toward a common goal. Jazz also demonstrates that great art can be for everybody. It’s both down-home and sophisticated. It deals with elite ideas but is not elite. I have written this book because I believe jazz can change your life, as it has changed mine.
I hope you will read MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND: How Jazz Can Change Your Life – and let me hear from you.
Yours in the spirit of swing,
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton to play with Ahmad Jamal at JALC
On September 18-20 at 8 p.m., Jazz at Lincoln Center opens its 2008-09 season, with master of jazz piano, Ahmad Jamal, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performing in Rose Theater. On these special evenings, Ahmad Jamal performs with his quartet and also big band arrangements of his tunes which may include “The Aftermath,” “Devil’s In My Den,” “Should I,” Horace Silver’s “Strollin’” and Monty Alexander’s “You Can See” with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. This concert marks the first time Ahmad Jamal has performed at Frederick P. Rose Hall. Opening night events include a pre-concert lecture, led by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra saxophonist Ted Nash, exploring the music of Ahmad Jamal. Pre-concert lectures are free for ticket holders and take place at 7 p.m. on September 18-20 at the Irene Diamond Education Center at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tickets go on sale August 13, and can be purchased through www.jalc.org or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500.
Check the complete Wynton’s tour schedule
Wynton to record tracks with Natalie Merchant
On August 25, 2008, Wynton will record 2 tracks with Natalie Merchant for her upcoming album. More to come…
Antwerp 2008: Photo and video from the sound check
Wynton and his quintet o played at the sound check this morning, for the concert that will start at 9 PM at Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp (Belgium). Wynton was also interviewed by the national TV and Radio of Belgium. Following you can check some photos and short video clip from the sound check.
Wynton Marsalis Quintet - “Sophie-Rose Rosalee”
[See post to watch Flash video]
