Moving to Higher Ground by Wynton Marsalis

If this is read as an autobiography, what is its purpose? Marsalis has been thoroughly generous in giving the gist of his life story in numerous interviews, articles, and previous books. But even the most eloquent musician can falter as a spokesperson for his or her art. Jazz did surely change his life – and we can experience the world as a better place musically since it did. The book’s subtitle uses the phrase “your life.” This book, however, is almost entirely about Marsalis’s life and opinions about jazz. This book amplifies that advocate identity, one also reinforced by five previous books. For two decades he has positioned himself as an educator and advocate for his particular jazz slant. But not content to be known solely for his musicianship, he has fashioned an identity as the most publicly loquacious jazz musician ever. Like many jazz historians and critics, I have the deepest regard for Wynton Marsalis as a remarkably eclectic and imaginative musician. If you’re curious about another point of view, read on. The book’s back cover includes endorsements by Yo Yo Ma and Maya Angelou, so you might find this review unnecessary if you find them sanguine reviewers. Ward, Marsalis’s assistant with the book, is the author of a noteworthy jazz history book, a companion to the Ken Burns television documentary, “Jazz,” that included extensive commentary by Wynton Marsalis, suggesting a simpatico collaboration.

The title of Wynton Marsalis’s new book, Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life, evokes both post-Katrina New Orleans and a self-help book, drawn together by a remarkable pedigree, the most acclaimed jazz artist of his generation.

Moving to Higher Ground by Wynton Marsalis