Tripping the World Fantastic: A Journey Through the Music of Our Planet

Glenn Dixon's whirlwind tour of 17 countries to explore the universal purpose of music, people's love of it, and its relationship to evolutionary psychology, brain physiology, genetics and culture is a stimulating adventure. Dixon (Pilgrim in the Palace of Words) writes in a friendly, humorous, and inclusive way that invites readers to join his travel expedition, investigating how and why people have always had a deep need to express themselves through music and to come together to create and celebrate it. Online links to audio/video clips allow readers to experience the music where he found it%E2%80%94whether it's a Paleolithic bone flute from 42,000 BCE, King Tut's trumpets, the Sh'ma Yisreal sung atop Mount Sinai, Bob Marley in Jamaica, or Dixon himself, singing a Scottish lament from a castle. Dixon's understanding of brain physiology and chemistry, as well as music cognition, help him provide insight into the relationship between language and music, why people crave music, why physiological bonds develop between people who sing together, and why music remains active and alive in people's minds and memories. Clearly a labor of love, the book succeeds by connecting readers intimately with the souls of music-makers all over the world. Canadian Distribution: UTP Distribution. U.S. Distribution: Ingram. (Apr.)