The dual narrators of JAZZ bring jazz music alive to the reader/listener, making this presentation the best way to present this book. JAZZ by Walter Dean Myers, a poetry picture book, tells about the development and different forms of jazz. But without the audiobook, the students will not get the real gist of the book.
The narrators sometimes take turns narrating the different components, sometimes work together, and sometimes sing. James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas, jazz vocalists, lend their talents to present these 15 poems in clear voices that are appropriately matched to each type of jazz described. The reading takes place slowly or a little more upbeat depending on what type of jazz is being read about. Different types of jazz music are intertwined throughout the entire audiobook. The poems even explain the different instruments in a jazz ensemble and the music for that poem is predominantly that instrument. The narrators cue you in to where you are by telling the titles of the introduction, poems, glossary, and jazz timeline. The only built in extras is the music which is essential to this book/audiobook. Though the illustrations of the book are not spoken of, the music makes up the difference. Technically, this audiobook was very crisp with no distractions, repetitions, etc. The sound level was on target. The packaging is the same as the attractive cover of the book.
I struggled with listening to this, my first audiobook ever. I tried to listen to it while riding home from a trip. I kept being distracted by the traffic (rightly so) and kept having to rewind. Each time it rewound to the beginning of the chapter. I was getting very frustrated with the system. I find that I would rather sit with a book, reread the part I need to when necessary, and pick up the book and read it anywhere/anytime. I had actually read this book before listening to the audiobook and now plan to make this a book kit. JAZZ just won’t have the same impact with the students if it is processed separately. The music and narration make this the quality book it is.
I struggled with listening to this, my first audiobook ever. I tried to listen to it while riding home from a trip. I kept being distracted by the traffic (rightly so) and kept having to rewind. Each time it rewound to the beginning of the chapter. I was getting very frustrated with the system. I find that I would rather sit with a book, reread the part I need to when necessary, and pick up the book and read it anywhere/anytime. I had actually read this book before listening to the audiobook and now plan to make this a book kit. JAZZ just won’t have the same impact with the students if it is processed separately. The music and narration make this the quality book it is.
