In this installment of the Intellectual Artist Series, participants will be reading, studying, and discussing "Moving to Higher Ground" by Wynton Marsalis.

Marsalis begins his book with an introduction that clearly establishes his theme, voice, and purpose. He establishes his tyle of using autobiographical anecdotes combined with intellectual musings and down-home voices of legendary jazz musicians which will continue throughout the book. Marsalis suggests how the individuality, trust, and profound relationships found in jazz can also be applied to life, which is one of the main themes of the book. He explicitly states the two-fold purpose of the book: "I'd like to demystify listening to jazz and show you how the underlying ideas of this music can change your life."

All curriculum materials used in this course have been derived from "Arts, Rhetoric, and Swing" by Phyllis Magold.