Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Guest Post by Gia Volterra de Saulnier

Title: Journey to Jazzland
Author: Gia Volterra de Saulnier
Length: 44 pages
Publisher: Flying Turtle Publishing
Release Date: July 1st 2013
Genre: Children's Book
Journey to Jazzland

Description

Do you know how to get to Jazzland? 
Join Windy Flute and all her musical friends on an adventure to find that magical place!


About the Author

Born and raised in Fairhaven, Massachusetts and attended University of Lowell (now University of Massachusetts, Lowell). It was there that I learned to love jazz. I have been performing jazz and other kinds of music for over 20 years, throughout the New England area. I live in North Reading, Massachusetts with my husband Richard, and my son Charlie. 


Guest Post

Tea, Books and all that Jazz 
Blog post for Tea and a Book by Gia Volterra de Saulnier

Nothing says comfort like a cup of hot tea, sitting on a comfortable couch with blankets to cover you while listening to some smooth jazz and reading a great book.

You don’t care how much snow is on the ground, you don’t care that your car is covered with 18 inches of snow, you just want to snuggle in front of that imaginary fire place (or in some cases, a real one) watching the Holiday lights twinkle or imagine them.

You can read any book while listening to jazz. There is slow jazz, some classic jazz and some funky jazz. Right now, I’m currently drinking some Chai Tea (thanks to my Keurig©®) and listening to some late night jazz as I write this post.

Jazz has inspired me from when I started listening to it when I was very young with “Jazz Suite for Flute and Piano” Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio with Claude Boling and Jean Pierre Rampall. I must have listened to that album 100 times (and back then it was on records, yeah, I know, I’m dating myself).

Since then, I have learned so much about jazz. It’s kind of like tea. You have so many different kinds of tea to drink. You have so many different kinds of jazz to listen to. There’s Latin Jazz, so maybe pair it with some spicy tea. There’s swing jazz, so maybe like a nice herbal tea or a nice Earl Grey? There’s soft smooth jazz which is perfect for Chai Tea or smoother teas. There are so many books to read too. Some like mysteries (I love a great mystery, give me Sherlock Holmes any day – and while I do love watching Robert Downey Jr portray Sherlock, I’d rather read the original by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

Or read to your kids while listening to jazz. Read them a picture book about jazz, like my book, Journey to Jazzland (perhaps) or read about jazz. It’s a fascinating history of music that we really shouldn’t keep on the back burner any more.

Even romance novels are great to read with that romantic jazz from Miles Davis' Kind of Blue or John Coltraine’s A Love Supreme

Those are some great CDs or even if you just like listening to generic jazz that works too.
I hope this post inspires you to learn more about jazz and get reading under those covers with that hot cup of tea.

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