Try free for 30 days

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Spirit of Music cover art

The Spirit of Music

By: Victor L. Wooten
Narrated by: Victor L. Wooten, full cast
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Grammy Award-winner Victor Wooten's inspiring parable of the importance of music and the threats that it faces in today's world.

We may not realize it as we listen to the soundtrack of our lives through tiny earbuds, but music and all that it encompasses is disappearing all around us. In this fable-like story three musicians from around the world are mysteriously summoned to Nashville, the Music City, to join together with Victor to do battle against the "Phasers", whose blinking "music-cancelling" headphones silence and destroy all musical sound. Only by coming together, connecting, and making the joyful sounds of immediate, "live" music can the world be restored to the power and spirit of music.

Read by the author, with:

  • Odelphis Davis as Mom
  • Keb' Mo' as Dad
  • Jonathan Chase as Jonathan
  • Cameron Wooten as the record-store owner and truck-stop employee
  • Sam Lutomia as Ali
  • Ryoko Suzuki as Seiko
  • India Arie as the music and Isis singing-voice
  • Brian Edwards as Sifu
  • Michael Kott as Michael
  • Chuck Rainey as Uncle Clyde
  • Radmila Bowers as Isis
  • Daniel J. Levitin as Phaser
  • Brandon Blake as Brandon
  • Dave Welsch as Larry
  • and Jeff Coffin as the saxophone player 
©2020 Victor L. Wooten (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

“[A] bit like Carlos Castaneda’s shamanist tales, a bit like tween fiction, a bit like websites on, say, sonic healing through principles of sacred geometry and - at its best - an enactment of epiphanies told in the ping-pong dialogue.... It’s a book that stands happily against traditional music pedagogy and canned notions of achievement. This is to its great credit.” (Ben Ratliff, The Washington Post)

“Wooten, bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, delivers a remarkable fable in which music is dying.... This allegorical foray into the power of music is both heartfelt and wildly imaginative. Music lovers will adore this sparkling manifesto.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) 

“Part exhortation, part New Age-ish memoir, part philosophical treatise, Wooten’s book is full of surprising and illuminating lessons.... [An] always rewarding delight for music fans of a mystical bent.” (Kirkus Reviews)

More from the same

What listeners say about The Spirit of Music

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I Really Wanted To Love This

I struggled with this one more than the first, and though there were some great moments, it was laborious to get through. Sonically, there were far too many noise and sound issues, ironic, given VW is a recording artist. Though fillled with beautiful music, and some wonderful parallels between life and theory, the story was too far out, despite at it's core being relevant to the age we are in.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Hard to get through

I loved the first book so much it was given to me as a gift so I was really excited to listen to this one. I'm with other people here. It starts with a rant about modern music recording techniques and then continues on with a messy story that makes weird connections between unrelated objects.

I stopped listening as it started conspiracy theory-level information connections, linking chord structures and Jesus. It got too painful.

It's performed really well though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.