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On That Note: A Memoir of Jazz, Tics, and Survival Kindle Edition

by Michael Wolff (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 31 ratings
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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.
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  1. Print length
    292 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 19, 2022
  4. File size
    2965 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
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  7. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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 musical prodigy who comes of age in 1960's Berkeley as a white Jewish kid who enters the magical archipelago of African-American jazz and becomes an accepted and admired part of the slipstream of the greatest music made possible by a culturally porous world."


-Steve Wasserman, Former literary editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review (LARB)


"Jazz piano maestro Michael Wolff has written an insightful, honest, searing memoir that moves the heart as poignantly as his piano solos do. This is not only a personal memoir but a history of pop culture, an exploration of race relations, and jazz music's place within society. It is both educational and inspiring."

-June Cross, Professor at Columbia and writer/producer of documentaries on race; winner of a 2021 Peabody Award


"In his rare, guileless, and amazingly symphonic memoir, Mr. Wolff cracks open his soul and deftly melds one kind of keyboard (QWERTY) with another (piano) . . . treating us to his singularly cool, masterfully improvisational style. The music/the voice is one of pure jazz-the message is one of hope, healing, and survival."

-Tony Shalhoub

About the Author

Michael Wolff is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, bandleader, and now, author. In along-running musical career he has been the musical director for the great Grammy-winning jazz singer, Nancy Wilson, and the award-winning The Arsenio Hall Show. He has also been a member of Impure Thoughts, Wolff & Clark Expedition, and a co-star with his sons on the series The Naked Brothers Band. He is a recipient of the BMI Music Award, the winner of the Gold Disc Award in Japan, and the recipient of the Hamptons International Film Festival's award for best film score for the film, The Tic Code. Wolff continues to compose and perform with his trio and is a professor of music at NYU.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09YDBJV2Q
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Redwood Publishing, LLC (April 19, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 19, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2965 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
31 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the author very talented and unique. They describe the narrative style as engaging, understandable, and irreverent. Readers also appreciate the writing style and honesty that keeps them on the edge.

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TalentNarrative styleWriting style
4 customers mention "Talent"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the author to be a talented jazz musician. They say the book is unique and a personal journey.

"...has been a well known, very talented jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and more...." Read more

"Michael is a very talented jazz musician who has overcome some health challenges to maintain his successful career...." Read more

"...Class of 1970 high school classmate and a brilliant, revered, accomplished musician. I'm glad to have discovered this book." Read more

"A Unique Musical and Personal Journey..." Read more

3 customers mention "Narrative style"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the narrative style engaging and understandable. They say the book hits all the marks and is an intimate, irreverent story.

"...of fairly sophisticated musical techniques and anecdotes in a very understandable manner, somewhat demystifying the world of jazz music and musicians..." Read more

"...His love for his family shines through.This autobiography hits all of the marks...superbly." Read more

"On That Note is a thoroughly engaging memoir of a unique American life in music...." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing style"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style honest and great. They say the author hits all of the marks superbly.

"...This autobiography hits all of the marks...superbly." Read more

"...for all of us in how he gets through them and his writing in explaining these things is great...." Read more

"...me tell y’all,, I can’t put it down❗️ It’s a great read, written with a style and honesty that keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to get to..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Sk
5.0 out of 5 stars Just a wonderful life story and book
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
I guess there’s not much more to say that previous reviews haven’t already said.
As one reviewer noted, he had to ration himself to savor it. I didn’t. Just read it straight through in a day or 2 (lol).
Mr. Wolff (with 2 FFs as he humorously notes once) has been a well known, very talented jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and more.
He’s undoubtedly most known for his stint as the music director for the past Arsenio Hall late night talk show. But I’ll just leave his discography for any readers to google for themselves.
The book covers many aspects of his life.
There’s his journey from childhood musician , to the top of the jazz world.
Then his marriage to the love of his life.
That follows with his watching and participating ( with his wife Polly) in the development of his 2 sons becoming child and now current music, TV and film acting stars.
Eventually, he develops life threatening medical illnesses. This long battle ( as is the entire book) finds him laying bare, all his struggles with said extreme adversity.
Spoiler alert!!!!
He beats the grim reaper and re- emerges.
For the musically inclined, the author (IMO)
introduces a number of fairly sophisticated musical techniques and anecdotes in a very understandable manner, somewhat demystifying the world of jazz music and musicians, which being a B- level bassist , I personally enjoyed. He talks about music constantly, because music( in addition to his family and other life aspects) has been his life. A wonderful, intimate, irreverent story.
10 stars. Well done!!!
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Harry N. Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2022
Verified Purchase
I have been aware of Michael Wolff's work since his days as musical director for the great Nancy Wilson and his stint with Arsenio Hall. I bought On That Note mainly to read about Nancy. However, the entire book was superb. In addition to his musical gifts, Michael Wolff can write! He has worked with many of the greats...Cannonball Adderly, Cal Tjader, Miles Davis, and of course Nancy Wilson. There are a few technical music bits scattered throughout , but even these are engaging to a non musician. Michael writes movingly yet with candor about his health issues. His love for his family shines through.
This autobiography hits all of the marks...superbly.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a prominent jazz musicians who conquered a number of challenges to get where he is today.
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2022
Verified Purchase
Michael is a very talented jazz musician who has overcome some health challenges to maintain his successful career. Tourette Syndrome from the beginning and cancer later in his life both threatened to derail him. There are lessons for all of us in how he gets through them and his writing in explaining these things is great. There are other nuggets in the book including chapters on some of the great musicians he has worked with. These include Nancy Wilson, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins and others and as band leader on the Arsenio Hall Show.
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Alan KC
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2023
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This book's author is a former Class of 1970 high school classmate and a brilliant, revered, accomplished musician. I'm glad to have discovered this book.
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Michael J. Katz
5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Musical and Personal Journey
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2022
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On That Note is a thoroughly engaging memoir of a unique American life in music. Most people know Michael Wolff through his time as bandleader for the Arsenio Hall Show. But few know his background, coming from a Jewish family in the deep South, dealing with (undiagnosed) Tourette's Syndrome from childhood, and rising to anchor bands on the piano with some of America's greatest jazz players, including Sonny Rollins, Cal Tjader, Cannonball Adderley and serving as musical director for singer Nancy Wilson. His charm and grit are tested through a harrowing battle with a rare form of cancer in the latter stages of the book.
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RB
5.0 out of 5 stars A dynamic journey of life and Jazz
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2024
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A dynamic journey of ups and horrible downs followed by survival.
His life has been filled with great things, happy times, horrible pain, and finally miraculous survival.
I remember his music, I did not know of his struggles and ability to tell a story.
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Frank Colon
5.0 out of 5 stars A turbulent and victorious tour-de-force of jazz and the musicians’ life!
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2022
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Cats,,, As I live in Rio de Janeiro, I got the Kindle version and, let me tell y’all,, I can’t put it down❗️ It’s a great read, written with a style and honesty that keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to get to the next page. Right now, I’m actually rationing my reading so that I can savor each chapter, instead of binging and blasting through it! Ha! Well done, Mike❗️🏆
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Barbara
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it.
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
A great read for anyone but a must for a jazz fan!
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