Wynton Marsalis is the most accomplished and acclaimed jazz artist and composer of his generation, in addition to being a classical musician. He has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture through his brilliant performances, recordings, compositions, educational efforts, and his vision as Artistic Director of the world-renowned arts organization Jazz at Lincoln Center (J@LC). He also was the first jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for his work, Blood on the Fields, commissioned by J@LC.

Wynton Marsalis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 18, 1961 and began his classical training on trumpet at age 12. Since his recording debut in 1982, he has produced 40 outstanding jazz and classical recordings which have garnered eight Grammy Awards. In fact, he is the only artist to ever win a Grammy for both classical and jazz recordings, having done it twice in 1983 and 1984.

He was also recently named one of "America's 25 Most Influential People" by Time magazine and one of "The 50 Most Influential Boomers" by Life magazine. On March 22, 2001, Marsalis was awarded the United Nations designation of "Messenger of Peace" by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He lives in New York City.

Carl Vigeland grew up with music: his mother was a professional singer and his father was an organist and choirmaster and manager of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Summers included visits to the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home, Tanglewood, where in 1940 his father had been a graduating member of the first conducting class. Vigeland played first trumpet in his high school's band and orchestra and performed frequently with his father; while at Harvard, he continued his trumpet studies for a year at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Vigeland has written three previous books, In Concert: Onstage and Off with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Great Good Fortune: How Harvard Makes Its Money, and Stalking the Shark: Pressure and Passion on the Pro Golf Tour, and teaches writing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He writes regularly about music and other subjects for a variety of national magazines, such as Playboy, The Atlantic Monthly, Fast Company, The New York Times Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Downbeat, Yankee, DoubleTake, and Boston magazine, which he served as travel editor. He is also a monthly columnist for Continental Airlines inflight magazine and contributes frequently to Golf Digest.

Vigeland has also ghostwritten several business books, served as a communications consultant to a number of businesses, and done business writing for clients ranging from Chemical Bank to Coopers & Lybrand. He lives in Massachusetts.