Wynton MarsalisReviews

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

p 17 2nd paragraph "being in time... When you are in time you know when to be quiet, when to assert yourself, and how to master the moment with an appropriate or unusually inventive response. Fast-thinking comedians can do that. So can athletes who make intelligent decisions that involve teamwork even though the pressure of the clock makes them want to do something solitary and, generally stupid."

p 75 "Too many young musicians today think learning to play scales on chords is jazz."

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). Per loro il libro è solo apparentemente utile, perché 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 anche di portare fuori strada proprio per via delle opinioni troppo parziali e nette che esprime. Quanto agli "esperti", non ci troveranno certo informazioni particolarmente 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.

How do you convey the idea of sounds through only words? Marsalis, the renowned jazz musician and composer, makes a terrific effort here with an astounding collection of onomatopoeic verses describing the output of musical instruments and everyday sounds.

[Onomatopoeic things sound like or suggest just what they mean. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as oink, meow, roar, and chirp.]

Two-page spreads contain large colorful fonts for the sounds depicted:

“Big trucks on the highway RRRRUMBLE.
Hunger makes my tummy GRrruMBle.”

The narrator, a young boy of color living in New Orleans, describes a typical day:

“Chrrrick chrrrick chrrrick chrrrick — buttering my toast. Krrrick krrick krrrick krrrick - quick where it itches the most."

The final spread features a veritable symphony of sounds in an implied loud and noisy crescendo.

Illustrator Paul Rogers uses joyful images to fill in some background for us and to add some jazz references for afficionados. In an interview about the book, Rogers said:

“The drawings are hugely influenced by the great Cliff Roberts, especially his illustrations for Langston Hughes’ First Book of Jazz from 1955. One of the early decisions I made was to have the story take place in New Orleans, Wynton’s hometown and a city we both love. This setting made it believable to have music on the street and all around the neighborhood.”

Evaluation: Kids aged 3 and up and/or their parents reading to them will have a blast sounding out the words in the book. They will also learn there is music everywhere - not just from instruments. Additionally, they will add to their vocabularies and word recognition skills.

Takes readers (and listeners) on a rollicking, clanging, clapping tour through the many sounds that fill a neighborhood.

diverse picture books (toddler/preschool ages 18 months and up; music / community).
* Prominently features diverse characters: Yep! Lots of African-Americans, including the main character, and a diverse cast throughout.
* Great choice for toddler storytime: short, rhyming text full of fun sound effects. Encourages participation (making sounds) and has a rhythmic quality that can promote movement, tapping along. Large, clear, colorful illustrations suitable for sharing with crowds.
* Book works well with the proposed "community" theme: Sure, but only because the theme can be so broadly interpreted.

Unsatisfying. 53 minutes of random views of mostly exteriors and plant life, by helicopter, slow panning and zoom in and out techniques; with no indication as to where we are, accompanied by Marsalis classical music. No narration at all. Pretty, of course, but aggrevating!

This is a fun story that shows how music is everywhere if you simply listen to the symphony all around you. I really liked how things began, the narrative flowed well with the sounds as it seemed very much in keeping with what a kid might notice in his daily life, but toward the end things seemed to get a bit jumbled with more sounds than story. With several visual and textual references to the sights but especially the sounds of New Orleans, this picture book illustrates just how much music surrounds in our daily lives. This book shows the audience a world that they may not be accustomed to, but makes this new culture relatable because of the familiar sounds that we all know. There are some rhymed lines of text that usually end in a sound. I will say sometimes the text felt inserted and odd. It’s not that it didn’t fit, it’s just that I was so into the sounds that the actual words seemed to interrupt the sonic adventure. I would read this book to a second grade classroom.

Over two decades ago and fairly late at night, my local classical music radio station announcer mentioned that he was going to play a track from a new CD (I vaguely remember that it was more than one track that was played that night). I believe he mentioned Wynton Marsalis and Kathleen Battle, by name, but the names meant nothing to me then. When it was ended I was agog to know who was responsible, and what the name of that divine music was.

It wasn’t long before I owned a couple of copies for home and car, which I’ve played it countless times. When frazzled this music picks me up, when I need to bask in beautiful sounds it fills my soul. This is the CD that I would take with me to the proverbial desert island.

The program notes for the disc say that during the Baroque, trumpet signified military, religious and regal music. It says that a higher, sweeter style of playing was created for indoor playing during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries called ‘clarino’. It was matched with high voiced instruments such as the recorder, such as to be found in the Brandenburg Concerto, the voice was also well suited to composers.

“The voice was deemed an especially good match for the trumpet. In particular, the sound of the castrated male voice (castrato) was often compared to the brilliance and strength of the trumpet and all that it symbolized. Throughout the Baroque era, heroic male operatic roles, such as Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, were typically sung by castrati. If we find the association of the castrato and a high (soprano or alto) singing range with male virility surprising today, it is partly because we fail to make a connection with the sound of the trumpet.”

The music is from some of the greats of the Baroque period: George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Alessandro Stradella and Johann Sebastian Bach. The notes point out that the three Handel selections “specifically represent the trumpet’s three symbolic uses: military, regal and religious”. Straddella’s piece, is in the form of a “typical chamber sonata with a succession of four dance movements ([Allemande; Corrente; Canzone; [Gigue]) in which the solo trumpet is contrasted with a string orchestra.”

Bach’s Jauchzet Gott, a serious favorite of mine, is also to be found on this CD. This is not a surprise since it is a famous piece for voice and trumpet. “The work calls for extraordinary virtuosity from both the singer and trumpeter; the singer’s part not only demands agility and speed, but the range extends up to high c’’’. “
I have read critiques on this CD that were unfavorable. But the critics most have a far more sophisticated ear than I, because I hear nothing but beauty and passion and skill, and I suspect that I will love this disc until the day that I die.

This book is about a young boy who describes all the sounds that he hears throughout the day through the use of onomatopoeia. He describes the sounds of the cars, the animals, the instruments, and lots of other objects that are around him. I really liked this book, it was a fun read and full of imagery. Perfect book to read when teaching students about onomatopoeia, rhyming, word families, and personification. I would suggest this book for 4th grade and under.

The CD cover makes it look like the freakin' Magna Carta--it's a nice disc with some good playing on it.½

Wynton Marsalis’s picture book is all about a boy living in a town where there are lots of different sounds everywhere because of a jazz festival. The boy is walking through his town and he hears all sorts of noises that the author then introduces to the readers.

This was a pretty neat book. Marsalis now as the old dog is writing to a young musician like he once was, He talks of things you need to really learn to be a great musician.

This was a pretty neat book. Marsalis now as the old dog is writing to a young musician like he once was, He talks of things you need to really learn to be a great musician.

Review: Book about the different sounds in a neighborhood. Uses an artistic view of a jazz musician to put sound to everyday occurrences.

Ages: 3-8

Source: Pierce ECE library

Onomonopia, many people know them as sound workds. Ouch! WOO HOO! Yipee! Whomp! These are all examples of onomonopia. This is a fun book because of all the sounds you make while reading it, but it also helps teach the lesson.

From the first page: "As clearly as possible, this book's many transitions, like chord changes, indicate changes in experience, in how experience is conveyed musically and, on the page, narratively. The narrative's logic is one of feeling, not geography or chronology, and it develops accretively, elliptically."

The narrator is a little boy from New Orleans and he tells us all about his life and culture through the different sounds he hears in a day. From squeaks to grumbles to tlocks, tlicks, and tlacks, this book is like a song with the most interesting sounds the world around us makes.

This is a good book to teach students sounds that items make, it is not so much a good book to test for content and comprehension, but it is more of an entertainment book. I think that young readers will have an enjoyable time with this book and learn a lot about things and their sounds.

Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!: A Sonic Adventure is a fiction book written by Jazz musician Marsallis Wynton. The book follows a boy throughout his daily life pointing out the sounds things make around him.

Part children’s book, part poetry collection, this alphabetized introduction to jazz artists is a must for all parents who value artistic learning! The author and illustrator picked 26 major figures in jazz and then provided a poem and portrait of each one. The combination creates a beautiful effect, a book that flows just like jazz itself, through the history of the musical movement.

The poetic book combines dozens of different writing styles. At the end there are biographies of each jazz artist and a page recommending albums from each performer. There’s also a section describing the various poetic styles used throughout the text (ode, haiku, calligram, sonnet, free verse, etc.) This gives kids a chance to learn about jazz and poetry at the same time. What an excellent pairing!

“A songwriter, a sonneteer, a sorcerer of sorghum sonatas, so sweetly sung.”

“My bass drum can blacken a big man’s eyes and injure a hero’s pride.”

I think that I found this book off the ABC books list yet it is not a book that fits my idea of a book to teach the alphabet. It is an interesting book to bring about info about some great Jazz artists and about a lot of people I never heard of. It is written in a way that does display each letter one at a time but this book is more about the jazz artists than the alphabet.

A fine read from a master of the idiom. A great introduction to the genre and a refresher for the jaded. Marsalis can be dogmatic and condescending at times, but he knows his work and loves it. The messianic view of jazz is disconcerting — but I sympathize with his critique of modern musicianship, which is rare indeed.

Good stuff overall.

This an an alphabet books that introduces jazz artists through the ages. Not only do the artists names start with the letter but there is an adjoining poem with use of that alphabet. For Louis Armstrong it says, "Absolute architect of the jazz age" and "Armstrong's amazing artistry astonishes audiences of all ages". The illustrations are done in muted block colors and shapes.
This would be a great book to introduce the alphabet, music, and poetry. This is somewhat silly in it's wording but can showcase an interesting use of language and the alphabet. This is a great collection of names and poetry. Made for the older set this is a great introduction to new vocabulary. The book ends with biographies of all the great artists.

This book deserves to be one of the 'standards' among jazz books. I consider myself lucky to be in conversation with Marsalis through this book. Even though nothing can take the place of the direct communication using music, this book is packed with enough energy, quality, personality and honesty to bring a fresh perspective on whatever I have listened until now.

On the other hand, I'm not sure if this would be the best choice as an introductory text. It may look like light reading but it may be very dense in terms of referring to a long musical legacy.