FROM TOURETTE’S TO TRIUMPH. FROM CANCER TO CURE. FROM THE SEGREGATED SOUTH TO COMMANDING STAGES AROUND THE WORLD, JAZZ MASTER, MICHAEL WOLFF’S JOURNEY BEGINS WITH PURE GRIT AND ENDS IN PERFECT VICTORY. Award-winning jazz musician Michael Wolff’s journey nearly ended six years ago at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital in lower Manhattan. After having been worked on by doctors and nurses for most of the night, Wolff, with the perfect timing only a world-class musician would have, regained consciousness just in time to hear one of the doctors ask his wife if he had a DNR. Before she could even ask what that was, Wolff used his last ounce of energy to gasp, “Resuscitate me!!” After Wolff had been treated for the wrong cancer for a year and a half, it was discovered that he had an ultrarare, untreatable cancer called histiocytic sarcoma and had three months to live. Fortunately, he was someone accustomed to overcoming the odds. Wolff had already survived a painful childhood overshadowed by Tourette’s Syndrome, during which his brilliance as a jazz pianist and passion for music saw him through. He went on the road at nineteen, not only performing with some of the great luminaries of jazz, but also conducting over twenty-five symphony orchestras worldwide. In 1989, Wolff was chosen to be the musical director of Arsenio Hall’s groundbreaking late-night talk show, which was extravagantly praised for its diversity of musical guests and brilliant house band. It was through the Arsenio Hall Show that Wolff became a household name. And it’s where he met the woman he would eventually marry, actress-writer-director Polly Draper, when she was a guest on the show. (Their two sons, Nat and Alex Wolff, are now highly successful actors and musicians in their own right, so it’s evident the talent was passed on to the next generation.) Wolff has released twenty-one albums to critical and popular acclaim, written award-winning scores to movies and television series, and has managed to beat an untreatable cancer. His compelling tale begins with his fish-out-of-water story in the segregated South, then moves to the politically turbulent Berkley, California, of the early 1960s, and finally takes him around the world as he earns his stripes as a world-class jazz musician. On That Note is more than a memoir. It is like a jazz score with words, taking the reader on the wild journey of Wolff’s singular life, one driven by a passion for music and for being alive. Sometimes hilarious and sometimes harrowing, Wolff’s story instantly sweeps us up and charms us throughout with his unique voice. Many books claim to be page-turners, but this one actually delivers. "Michael Wolff may have been the first true jazz genius I met in my career. I got to know him on tour with the great Nancy Wilson. Michael helped teach this young, very green Cleveland comic the show business ropes! He was as bright and savvy a man as he was a musician! I'm so very glad he wrote this book because I want the world to know this unique musician who stood by my side through every night of The Arsenio Hall Show. The story of his life has been a wild, amazing, and emotional ride!" -Arsenio Hall "Michael Wolff is one of the greatest musicians and storytellers in the world and an inspiration for so many musicians, myself included. His journey has been unique and spans many worlds. Congratulations on your memoir, and thank you for taking us on a trip to experience that journey, which continues." -Christian McBride, Seven-time Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist "Pianist Michael Wolff has had a remarkable career performing and recording with jazz legends such as Cannonball Adderley, Cal Tjader, and Sonny Rollins, as well as leading his own groups. In On That Note, his profane and profound memoir, Wolff writes colorfully about overcoming adversity and about the rewards of a life in music. It turns out that the pianist is also a writer." -Lee Mergner, JazzTimes "I met Michael Wolff more than fifty years ago. We were rehearsing with the Berkeley High Stage Band, and I was having some issues blowing over rhythm changes. I asked Michael for advice, and he said: 'Just play the blues. . .' It all fell into place. "They say that in jazz, there are no wrong notes. If you trip, you continue and make your misstep look like you intended it. Michael has a true improviser's approach to life and to everything that he does, and his book reflects that sensibility. "This book reveals Michael's honest, no-holds-barred attitude. Fortunately for us, his is a history that is still in the process of unfolding." -Lenny Pickett, Saxophonist and bandleader, Saturday Night Live "Michael Wolff is a great guy and one of the greatest musicians I ever played with. I hope this book sells because he owes me money." -Sonny Rollins, American saxophone legend "Wrapped inside this moving recovery memoir from a dire and rare cancer is a revelatory and deeply American story of a precocious musi