To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road
Wynton Marsalis, the trumpeter and bandleader who has done as much as anyone to champion jazz, writes a string of letters to a young, aspiring musician. Modeled loosely on Rilke's letters to a young poet, the book mixes practical advice about playing and practicing with broader thoughts about discipline, listening, humility, and finding your own voice. Marsalis writes about the long apprenticeship music requires and the way performing teaches you about yourself and other people. Co-written with Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, it reads like mentorship on the page, generous and direct. Though it is aimed at musicians, the lessons about craft, patience, and respect for tradition reach anyone trying to get good at something hard. It is short, warm, and easy to return to.
What you might want to know about To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The jazz trumpeter writes a series of letters to a young musician, sharing what music and life on the road have taught him.
It is a short book of letters in which Wynton Marsalis shares advice on music, discipline, and life with a young musician starting out.
Chris Bosh cited it as one of the models for his own book, Letters to a Young Athlete, in an interview with Men's Journal.
To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road was written by Wynton Marsalis, published in 2004 by Random House.
To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road is 176 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
