Experience the inspiration and joy of creation and performance in Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life , an intimate portrait of a unique artist and his audience. Set in the studio, on the stage, and in great cities and small towns across the country, this book captures life on the road for Marsalis and his musicians, evoking its ritual and renewal, energy and spirituality. Describing the art of improvisation, the book's two voices mirror the interplay at the heart of jazz. "On the road and on the bandstand," Marsalis writes, "something great may happen at any moment, something that might even change your life." Alternately luminous and boisterous, often poignant, and always passionate, Marsalis and Vigeland's extraordinary dialogue is a must for fans, musicians, and anyone curious about America's only indigenous art form. Using the written-word equivalents of such documentary film techniques as the slow fade-out and the cutaway, this collaborative personal history presents an intimate view of life on the road, in the recording studio, and in concerts with trumpeter Marsalis, his ensemble, and road crew in the early 1990s. This period saw Marsalis, currently director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, honing his chops at little clubs and composing songs. While not a traditional biography, this book provides a very real, personal glimpse of Marsalis, as both musician and man. Trumpeter and music writer Vigeland, who tagged along with the septet, here allows his coauthor's sense of humor to shine through. The book's film-inspired techniques make for an unpredictable, ever-evolving reading experience, and readers will come away with a feeling for life on the road, stripped of its many false stereotypes. Recommended for all public and academic libraries; those that already own Marsalis and Frank Stewart's Sweet Swing Blues on the Road (Norton, 1994) should definitely purchase this sequel. James Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, OH Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Some say that Wynton Marsalis, trumpet virtuoso and de facto "jazz ambassador," is suffering from too much exposure these days, having become a very public jazz pedagogue as the star of Ken Burns' Jazz documentary and numerous other TV and radio jazz series in recent years. Bittersweet , however, is a departure from such projects. A "new journalism" account of a musician's life on the road, the book illustrates how Vigeland spent five years on tour with Marsalis and his band in the early 1990s. Jack Keroac's legendary On the Road was Vigeland's model, and the book that results offers a much more attractive view of Marsalis than one might see through a first-person, ghostwritten memoir. Through an exhaustive tour schedule, Vigeland illuminates the minor catastrophes and triumphs, small-town characters and big-city fans that vie for the artist's attention on the road. Marsalis' commentary on these events is highlighted throughout the book, but Vigeland maintains an independent, omniscient perspective throughout, and that is what gives the book its charm. Ted Leventhal Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, is an accomplished jazz artist, composer, and classical musician. An internationally respected teacher and spokesperson for music education, he has won numerous Grammy Awards and received the Pulitzer Prize for his oratorio, Blood on the Fields. He lives in New York City. Carl Vigeland writes about music and many other subjects for national publications, including Fast Company, The Atlantic Monthly, Down Beat, and Double-Take. He is the author of three previous books and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.