In On the Way to the Sky: Remembering Bob Brookmeyer, author Michael Stephans has created a rich, multifaceted paean to jazz icon Bob Brookmeyer, the much-beloved musical genius who passed away in 2011, four days short of his 82nd birthday. On the Way to the Sky is a hybrid book in that its part memoir, part biography, with over a dozen essays by such luminaries as Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, John Mosca, Darcy James Argue, Dave Rivello, John Hollenbeck, and the late Terry Teachout, as well as shorter tributes by prominent musicians, writers, and family members. Stephans also presents three chronologically arranged chapters that trace Brookmeyers musical trajectory via his recordings, from 1952 through 2011.
In spite of Brookmeyers six-decade career as a master of the valve trombone and pianoand as an iconoclastic composer, arranger, and educatorhe has rarely received the exposure to the listening public that he so richly deserves. In Stephanss words, When writing about music and musicians, a writers responsibility is to expand public awareness of other voices in all musical genres. His dedication to illuminating the Brookmeyer legacy is his palpable raison dÊtre.
