Interview: Yo-Yo Ma's 'Beginner's Mind' Is a Musical Meditation on the Power of Art

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Audible's Words + Music: Hear Icons Like Never Before
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Break Shot: My First 21 Years
- Words + Music | Vol. 2
- By: James Taylor
- Narrated by: James Taylor
- Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
"I’m James Taylor and I’m a professional autobiographer", says the celebrated folk singer at the start of this tender audio memoir. Through decades of music by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, who created classics like "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in My Mind", James Taylor has doled out his history in the poetry of his work. Taylor says his early life is, "the source of many of my songs", and Break Shot is a tour of his first 21 years in rich, new detail.
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Disappointed
- By David on 02-01-20
By: James Taylor
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Sheryl Crow
- Words + Music | Vol. 6
- By: Sheryl Crow
- Narrated by: Sheryl Crow
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Original Recording
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Revealing, intimate, and exhilaratingly raw, celebrated songwriter and acclaimed singer Sheryl Crow’s Words + Music provides the perfect canvas for the nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist to showcase her potent talent, articulate her complex inner workings, and breathe new life into a sizable stack of her most beloved tracks.
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Good listen
- By Jennifer K. on 09-10-20
By: Sheryl Crow
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Upon Reflection
- Words + Music | Vol. 12
- By: Sting
- Narrated by: Sting
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Original Recording
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Story
Before he was nicknamed “Sting” by the leader of a local show band in northeast England, Gordon Sumner knew he was meant for more than his working-class background promised. He just didn’t know how to get there. In Upon Reflection, hear the singular talent trace his unlikely rise from his days as a young husband and father working as a local schoolteacher, to risking everything on a fateful move to London, and joining an aspiring punk band called The Police.
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Sting reflects on life, opportunities and music
- By tru britty on 03-26-21
By: Sting
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Alanis Morissette
- Words + Music | Vol. 8
- By: Alanis Morissette
- Narrated by: Alanis Morissette
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A down-to-earth global pop star. A deeply spiritual, cerebral powerhouse. A famously outspoken introvert. For her millions of fans, and the few unacquainted, defining rock luminary Alanis Morissette is an exercise in dichotomies and nuance. And though her most formidable traits are seemingly at odds with one another, they are, oddly enough, completely emblematic of all of us: complex, conflicting, and, most importantly, ever evolving. With her striking command of language and profound emotional fluency, the 46-year-old covers an enormous amount of personal ground with listeners.
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Music x Words
- By Patrick on 10-23-20
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Grateful and Blessed
- Words + Music | Vol. 10
- By: Smokey Robinson
- Narrated by: Smokey Robinson
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
If any artist could brag about his contribution to the pop culture canon, it’s Smokey Robinson. His career is filled with so many “he was there” moments it’s a wonder he doesn’t recall them with the swagger of a conquering hero: songwriting and singing as a teenager in Detroit; co-founding Motown Records with Berry Gordy; creating 26 Top 40 hits with his group The Miracles; helping to spark racial integration of popular music in the 1960s; discovering hitmakers like Diana Ross and the Supremes; penning tunes for a jaw-droppingly diverse group of artists.
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Man Crush
- By John R. Meade on 11-22-20
By: Smokey Robinson
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Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane
- Words + Music | Vol. 1
- By: Patti Smith
- Narrated by: Patti Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Patti Smith: Words and Music features live audio of performances captured over three evenings at the Minetta Lane Theatre, woven into a single, one-of-a-kind audio event.
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A bonus for fans of Just Kids & M Train
- By tru britty on 11-02-18
By: Patti Smith
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Break Shot: My First 21 Years
- Words + Music | Vol. 2
- By: James Taylor
- Narrated by: James Taylor
- Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I’m James Taylor and I’m a professional autobiographer", says the celebrated folk singer at the start of this tender audio memoir. Through decades of music by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, who created classics like "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in My Mind", James Taylor has doled out his history in the poetry of his work. Taylor says his early life is, "the source of many of my songs", and Break Shot is a tour of his first 21 years in rich, new detail.
-
-
Disappointed
- By David on 02-01-20
By: James Taylor
-
Sheryl Crow
- Words + Music | Vol. 6
- By: Sheryl Crow
- Narrated by: Sheryl Crow
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revealing, intimate, and exhilaratingly raw, celebrated songwriter and acclaimed singer Sheryl Crow’s Words + Music provides the perfect canvas for the nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist to showcase her potent talent, articulate her complex inner workings, and breathe new life into a sizable stack of her most beloved tracks.
-
-
Good listen
- By Jennifer K. on 09-10-20
By: Sheryl Crow
-
Upon Reflection
- Words + Music | Vol. 12
- By: Sting
- Narrated by: Sting
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before he was nicknamed “Sting” by the leader of a local show band in northeast England, Gordon Sumner knew he was meant for more than his working-class background promised. He just didn’t know how to get there. In Upon Reflection, hear the singular talent trace his unlikely rise from his days as a young husband and father working as a local schoolteacher, to risking everything on a fateful move to London, and joining an aspiring punk band called The Police.
-
-
Sting reflects on life, opportunities and music
- By tru britty on 03-26-21
By: Sting
-
Alanis Morissette
- Words + Music | Vol. 8
- By: Alanis Morissette
- Narrated by: Alanis Morissette
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A down-to-earth global pop star. A deeply spiritual, cerebral powerhouse. A famously outspoken introvert. For her millions of fans, and the few unacquainted, defining rock luminary Alanis Morissette is an exercise in dichotomies and nuance. And though her most formidable traits are seemingly at odds with one another, they are, oddly enough, completely emblematic of all of us: complex, conflicting, and, most importantly, ever evolving. With her striking command of language and profound emotional fluency, the 46-year-old covers an enormous amount of personal ground with listeners.
-
-
Music x Words
- By Patrick on 10-23-20
-
Grateful and Blessed
- Words + Music | Vol. 10
- By: Smokey Robinson
- Narrated by: Smokey Robinson
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If any artist could brag about his contribution to the pop culture canon, it’s Smokey Robinson. His career is filled with so many “he was there” moments it’s a wonder he doesn’t recall them with the swagger of a conquering hero: songwriting and singing as a teenager in Detroit; co-founding Motown Records with Berry Gordy; creating 26 Top 40 hits with his group The Miracles; helping to spark racial integration of popular music in the 1960s; discovering hitmakers like Diana Ross and the Supremes; penning tunes for a jaw-droppingly diverse group of artists.
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Man Crush
- By John R. Meade on 11-22-20
By: Smokey Robinson
-
Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane
- Words + Music | Vol. 1
- By: Patti Smith
- Narrated by: Patti Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Patti Smith: Words and Music features live audio of performances captured over three evenings at the Minetta Lane Theatre, woven into a single, one-of-a-kind audio event.
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A bonus for fans of Just Kids & M Train
- By tru britty on 11-02-18
By: Patti Smith
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Bluebird Memories: A Journey Through Lyrics & Life
- Words + Music | Vol. 3
- By: Common, Awoye Timpo, NSangou Njikam
- Narrated by: Common
- Length: 1 hr and 21 mins
- Original Recording
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In a performance that combines the personal and poetic with the literary and the lyrical, Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe-winning artist Common spins something entirely new and bold for both his old-school fans and those new to one of hip-hop’s most essential voices. This is Bluebird Memories, part of Audible's Words + Music that blends storytelling, music, and performance to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience.
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I'm an OWW
- By R. Sippel on 08-09-20
By: Common, and others
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St. Vincent
- Words + Music | Vol. 4
- By: St. Vincent
- Narrated by: St. Vincent
- Length: 1 hr and 29 mins
- Original Recording
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Story
On rare occasion, a fascinating artist will endeavor to peel back the curtain and truly reveal themselves: Their craft, their thoughts, their pain, their humanity. But it is even more rare that the artist actually possesses the range of gifts to pull it off. St. Vincent is such an artist. And St. Vincent: Words plus Music is such an experience.
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Not my cup of tea
- By Mark Wiznitzer on 09-06-20
By: St. Vincent
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Speaking Truth to Power Through Stories and Song
- Words + Music | Vol. 5
- By: Tom Morello
- Narrated by: Tom Morello
- Length: 1 hr and 42 mins
- Original Recording
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Rock god. Justice fighter. Rabble-rouser. Ivy Leaguer. An American renegade and fearless truth teller. Rage Against the Machine’s guitar virtuoso, Tom Morello, is many things, but perhaps he himself sums it up best: a one man revolution. For the first time ever, hear Morello fuse the deeply personal with the political in a rapturous, badass, one-man show that skillfully balances soul-bearing stories with spellbinding guitar fury. This is Tom Morello at Minetta Lane Theatre: Speaking Truth to Power Through Stories and Song.
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From casual fan to wanting to consume more Tom M.
- By Raymond A. Lukasiewicz on 09-01-20
By: Tom Morello
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The Confederacy: Truth and Reconciliation
- Words + Music | Vol. 7
- By: T Bone Burnett
- Narrated by: T Bone Burnett
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Original Recording
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Legendary Grammy Award-winning producer and towering musical icon T Bone Burnett speaks plainly, which is all the more reason why his stunning new Words + Music, The Confederacy: Truth and Reconciliation, lands with such force. And his songs, delivered straight from the heart, carry with them the weight of unvarnished truth and the wisdom he’s gathered from a lifetime.
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Preaching to the choir
- By robert on 10-06-20
By: T Bone Burnett
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Road Trip Elegies: Montreal to New York
- Words + Music | Vol. 9
- By: Rufus Wainwright
- Narrated by: Rufus Wainwright
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
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Gorgeous music, riveting stories, and the open road ahead. Don’t miss your chance to join Rufus Wainwright, the inimitable singer, songwriter, and composer, as he tracks his fascinating journey as an artist and man over the course of his deeply familiar car ride between the storied home of his youth (Saint-Sauveur, Quebec) and New York City, the birthplace of his musical rise. Part of Audible’s Words + Music series, Road Trip Elegies features more than 20 songs performed by Rufus and a tight-knit band (including family and friends) at a recent set of performances out West.
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A Keeper
- By Janet on 11-06-20
By: Rufus Wainwright
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Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven
- Words + Music | Vol. 11
- By: Jonathan Biss
- Narrated by: Jonathan Biss
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
- Original Recording
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In his vivid and profound addition to Audible’s Words + Music series, Jonathan Biss, the world renowned pianist and critical Beethoven interpreter of our time, expounds on the spellbinding hold the classical figure and his work possesses over him. Biss doesn’t just love Beethoven more than other music, he loves it more than most things. It’s the lens through which he understands the world, and has been since he can remember. But in Unquiet, Biss reveals the full extent to which Beethoven is also a ruthless lens through which he views himself.
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Love, as always, is the answer.
- By Kindle Customer on 12-17-20
By: Jonathan Biss
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What listeners say about Beginner's Mind
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- lesley ann
- 04-08-21
Simply beautifully, deeply humane ...
Listening to Beginner's Mind, is a fertile sanctuary providing reassurance that paths are made by walking and the same is true for human and natural connections that flourish and flower. This will be listened to by me again and again.. beautiful reading and music to carry the stories.
The narratives highlight a reverence for life's unfolding as guided by the returns of being in awe, moved and curious about people, the natural world and the hopes of reducing others' strife - and the power of music and art in all that ties us to each other, nature and the expansion of what sustains a better life for each other.
Regardless of vocation, the concepts resound and reassure the path worth walking. As a physician scientist, the concepts align with 'patient-centredness' which drives everything good in science and healthcare whether qualitative or quantitative - the curiosity, humility and awe of others' experiences and responsiveness to these inform science as a changing, productive and glorious field ... art and music seem kindred in this... in all walks, continually refreshing this listening referential frame of ourselves and other as 'new sandcastles await building each day' are elemental to that which 'binds us together as a human-beings' and I would add to the natural world.
Thank you for this lovely piece of sustenance in life and work.
LAS
27 people found this helpful
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- Jon Kurland
- 04-08-21
Inspiring, Moving, and Engaging
A beautiful listen from a true master. Inspiring, engaging, and filled with important life lessons.
15 people found this helpful
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- Jean
- 04-09-21
Incredible
Most beautiful thing I have ever listened to. Incredible insight into Yo-Yo Ma and being human.
12 people found this helpful
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- Peggy stauffer
- 04-11-21
Appreciation and Awareness
YoYo Ma's apparent wisdom and talent gained through life by hard work is shared in this book. It was a joy to listen to several times. If only more of us could be so spiritually minded yet down to earth it would help everyone stop, think, and act in a calm manner. What a special person YoYo Ma is and we are delighted to have this presentation.
9 people found this helpful
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- L B
- 04-10-21
Inspired!
Absolutely beautifully insightful story, grounding voice, and soul touching music.
Timely hopeful guide for the arc of humanity.
Thank You Yo Yo Ma and Audible!
8 people found this helpful
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- Pat
- 04-11-21
Exquisite
My daughter has met Maestro Ma and says he is unassuming and very humble. She is right. She left out compelling. Don't miss this book, especially if you love his music.
6 people found this helpful
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- Pittsburgh K
- 04-11-21
Inspiring and moving
I had not expected that an audio book could be experienced so profoundly through Yo-Yo Ma’s music and his personal story. It moved me to tears with a strong sense of connection to humanity. Invite him to your living room in this audio original and be ready to FEEL the emotions that words cannot describe and inspiration to come afterwards!
5 people found this helpful
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- Bianca Patrick
- 04-11-21
Beginner's Mind
This is a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half. Yo-Yo Ma is a national, no, an international treasure. A universal treasure, for all I know. Not only is he a stunningly talented and curious and open musician, but he is also a stellar human being. The music here is a catalog of international sounds and ideas; Yo-Yo Ma is giving us lessons about what we can do with our humanity. We can use it to enrich and unite our fellow human beings. The history of our species should not be who we can hate and conquer, but who we can cherish and learn from. Love love love him.
5 people found this helpful
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- lauralee
- 04-11-21
Loved it
YoYo Ma is not only a brilliant musician but an insightful human being. Loved that he told his story in his own voice interspersed with complimentary musical pieces. Thoroughly enjoyable.
4 people found this helpful
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- Rebecca W. Todd Bell
- 04-09-21
You don’t want to miss this.
Such a wonderful audio book: Yo-Yo Ma’s voice narrating his words, interspersed with his music. Highest possible recommendation.
4 people found this helpful