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Walter Dean Myers is a celebrated poet and novelist for young readers. His books have received two Newbery Honors, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and an Honor, five Coretta Scott King Awards, and the first Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults. He lives with his wife in New Jersey.

Christopher Myers is a distinguished artist whose work has received a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. Booklist proclaimed Myers's artwork "A visual experience . with truly extraordinary grace and power."

Take the Lead is a terrific series of books for all instrumentalists, young and old. Eight jazz classics are arranged for each instrument as stand-alone solos, or all the instruments can play together. Each song includes chord symbols in concert pitch for use by piano or guitar, or the player can use the full backing track from the CD as accompaniment. The CD also includes tuning notes and full version demonstration tracks of each song to help each musician learn the song. It's a great all-around package at a great price, and perfect for the band student who is looking for more music to play, especially as an introduction to jazz.

Publishers Weekly

The father-and-son team behind blues journey creates a scintillating paean to jazz. Walter Dean Myers infuses his lines (and the rests between them) with so much savvy syncopation that readers can't help but be swept up in the rhythms. "Stride," for example, narrated by a piano man, captures the spirit of a "band on fire." On a delphinium-purple page, below each line of white type ("I got jump in my feet, and I'm turning up the heat, left hand hauling"), two significant words from that line dance in black script ("jump"/ "feet"), functioning like the chords a jazz pianist uses as percussive punctuation within a tune. Visually, the page's typography evokes long white and short black piano keys. Christopher Myers lays black-inked acetate over brilliant, saturated acrylics. The resulting chiaroscuro conjures the deep shadows and lurid reflections of low-lit after-dark jazz clubs. The artist dynamically enlarges key compositional elements: a massive bass, a long ago drummer's muscular back, and fingers-poised over keys, plucking strings, splayed along a flute. Design sings here, too: Louis Armstrong's spread upends, befitting that jazz giant. A cogent introduction, selective glossary and chronology round out this mesmerizing verbal and visual riff on a uniquely American art form. All ages. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.