Jazz

Start with rhythm/ Start with the heart--so begins this collection of Walter Dean Myers poems, where listeners will find plenty of rhythm and plenty of heart. R&B artists James "D-Train" Williams and Vaneese Thomas read and sing the 17 poems--joyful tributes to jazz and bebop, to the piano and the slide trombone, to Louis Armstrong and New Orleans--with energy and verve, accompanied by a live jazz ensemble. The narration lifts the words off the page and asks them to dance, perfectly complementing Christopher Myers's gorgeous, colorful, kinetic illustrations. Listeners of all ages will feel truly immersed in the sounds of jazz music, and the accompanying introduction, glossary of jazz terms, and timeline of jazz history offer even more depth. J.M.D. AudioFile Best Audiobook of 2007 (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from August 7, 2006
The father-and-son team behind blues journey
creates a scintillating paean to jazz. Walter Dean Myers infuses his lines (and the rests between them) with so much savvy syncopation that readers can't help but be swept up in the rhythms. "Stride," for example, narrated by a piano man, captures the spirit of a "band on fire." On a delphinium-purple page, below each line of white type ("I got jump in my feet, and I'm turning up the heat, left hand hauling"), two significant words from that line dance in black script ("jump"/ "feet"), functioning like the chords a jazz pianist uses as percussive punctuation within a tune. Visually, the page's typography evokes long white and short black piano keys. Christopher Myers lays black-inked acetate over brilliant, saturated acrylics. The resulting chiaroscuro conjures the deep shadows and lurid reflections of low-lit after-dark jazz clubs. The artist dynamically enlarges key compositional elements: a massive bass, a long ago drummer's muscular back, and fingers—poised over keys, plucking strings, splayed along a flute. Design sings here, too: Louis Armstrong's spread upends, befitting that jazz giant. A cogent introduction, selective glossary and chronology round out this mesmerizing verbal and visual riff on a uniquely American art form. All ages.