A huge book of jazz reviews from the UK – all penned by journalist Chris Searle from the Morning Star – and presented here with a bonus 2CD set of rare material from the UK scene! The CD is really incredible – and is almost worth the price of the package alone – as it features never-issued work that echoes some of the ideas in the book – served up by some of the luminaries we've come to love from the Jazz In Britain label! There's a huge amount of material from various groups led by pianist Chris McGregor – titles that include "New Year Carnival", "Sun Song", "Night Poem", and "Sabendye Baye" – plus more cuts that include "Saalfelden Encore" by Trevor Watts, "Live At The Albert" by Mujician, "Number Three" and "Sixes & Sevens" by John Stevens, "Six Piece Group Improvisation" by Splinters, and "How About You" by Bruce Turner. The book covers more contemporary musicians in UK performances – almost 400 pages of reviews from the Morning Star, on artists who include Susan Alcorn, Denys Baptiste, Fred Frith, Anthony Braxton, Mary Halvorsen, Oliver Lake, Frank Lowe, Myra Melford, Archie Shepp, Henry Grimes, and dozens of others. (Books, Jazz) Book

A hefty look at the key role of composition in British jazz during the glorious modern uprising that began in the second half of the 60s – a book that features chapters on key figures from that moment, including Barry Guy, Mike Gibbs, Michael Garrick, Mike Westbrook, John Mayer, and Keith Tippet! Each of the artists had their own way of mixing stricture and improvisation – Mayer in his experiments with Indian music, Guy in his embrace of free jazz, Gibbs in the way he mixed rock influences with avant jazz – a legacy that continues to be hugely influential, all these many years later! And don't mistake "composer" with "classical" – as none of these artists made music that was jazz throughout, not some of the more highbrow experiments on the American scene of the postwar years – an approach that author Duncan Heining gets at well in these pages, then backs up with a great bonus 2CD set of material to illustrate his arguments. Hardcover book is over 300 pages, with some black and white images. (Books, Jazz) Book