A loving portrait of key figures in Jamaican music – a book done during the 21st Century, but filled with classic artists from back in the day – dozens of giants pictured in full color images, alongside some words on their art and music, plus standout tracks and details of their best qualities! The book is on an academic press, but it's a great read for anyone – and features a brief introduction by the author, before diving into the dozens of entries – of subjects who include Derrick Harriott, Ras Michael, Mr Fix It, Bobby Aitkin, Deadly Headley, Bob Andy, Cedric Im Brooks, Max Romeo, Ken Parker, Lee Scratch Perry, Boris Gardinier, Gladdy Anderson, Steely & Clive, Sly Dunbar, and many others. The softcover edition is 230 pages, with full color photos throughout, and features helpful indexes on key recordings and the locations and timing of the interviews within. Book

A work of fiction, but one that dives deep into the mind of Miles Davis, its main character – in a tale that begins with a police assault outside Birdland one night in August of 1959, then follows Davis as he reacts the the experience – moving around the city, and ruminating about his role in jazz and the impulses that have brought him so far. Author Wesley Brown takes a lot of liberty with dialogue and thoughts that might have been going through Miles' head – and romantic interest Frances Taylor figures strongly in the story as well. Some might argue for the opinions uttered by Davis in the story, and the tone he takes when speaking – but that's also part of the compelling quality of the book, and the risks it takes – imagining internal and external modes amidst a framework of actual events. 65 pages, hardcover. Book

An incredible look at the format of vinyl – put together by a guy who's got one of the hippest record collections we've ever seen! John Corbett's been writing about music, art, and other formats for decades – but his real labor of love is vinyl records – a format he continued to embrace even at the height of the CD era – so much so that he talked Downbeat magazine into letting him write a special column on musical delights that had never made it to the digital format! Corbett helped plenty of music get reissued on CD himself – thanks to countless label projects – but he also always held a special place in his heart for the kinds of records that never got reissued – and those are the sorts of titles featured here – a massive run of music that runs from jazz to funk, American and European, totally obscure to completely common – presented beautifully together in this massive book! The volume doesn't just bring together Corbett's columns, but also offers up full color reproductions of all the record covers, along with a few other details too – to support efforts on dozens of artists – a huge list that includes Melvin Jackson, Bill Leslie, Black Grass, Night Blooming Jazzmen, Phil Seamen, Khan Jamal, Klaus Doldinger, The Mad-Hatters, Tommy Jones, Guy Warren, The Three Souls, United Front, Johnny Lytle, London Experimental Jazz Quartet, Paul Smoker, AK Salim, Noah Howard, Jack Wilson, and many others – a good number of whom have yet to be reissued. The book is wonderful – and Corbett's longtime declaration of being a vinyl freak is more important than ever, given the rebirth of the medium! Book is 250 pages, softcover, with color images. Book

A beautiful set of poems dedicated to the legacy of bebop genius Charlie Parker – presented in a variety of ways that make the book far more engrossing than you might expect! Some of the poems deal with the bebop scene directly from the artists' perspective, others contemplate the music as a listener – and the book features a large central passage that includes the complete text of a radio play that Yusef Komunyakaa did with saxophonist Sandy Evans for Australian radio! There's also some essays on the Testimony piece – as well as an interview with the poet by Sascha Feinstein – plus a bonus CD of the whole broadcast performance, in this hardcover edition of 140 pages. Book

An overlooked history in jazz – a huge book that not only documents important female-led groups and solo artists in the music, but also focuses on those that were heavily featured in visual media as well! The scope might seem small at first, but the author expands with a voluminous range of artists from the 20s through the 50s – leaders, musicians, and singers who were able to get exposure in film and television that they might not have received otherwise! The book has dozens of black and white photos – many illustrating the visual potential of the artists – and subjects include Hazel Scott, Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Ina Ray Hutton, Phil Spitalny & His Musical Queens, International Sweethearts Of Rhythm, The Ingenues, Carl Adams, and others. Softcover edition is 316 pages, with black and white photos. Book

An interesting look at MTV and its Canadian counterpart, MuchMusic – both of whom are considered back in the glory days, when they still focused on music! Author Kip Pegley traces similarities and differences in both programming and the way the networks interact with a larger cultural milieu – using a mix of history, analysis, and statistical data through examinations of larger cultural impact, including on issues of race and gender. The book is tighter than most academic books of this nature – and moves quickly through a great range of material, offering up more detail in the very large section of notes and appendix materials at the back. Softcover edition is 159 pages, with some black and white images. Book

A wide-ranging book on soundtrack cultures from around the globe – presented as a series of different essays on the music by a variety of different academic who specialize in film music! Mark Slobin edited the volume, and contributes a few early essays on American film music – including a look at the cult around Max Steiner – and other essays look at Bollywood soundtracks, Hindi film music, other cinematic sounds in Chinese, Brazilian, Tamil, Indonesian, Egyptian, Mexican, and other cultures. The book is hefty – 383 pages for this softcover edition, with some black and white images – and contributors include Greg Booth, Abdalla Uba Adamu, Joseph Getter, Marilyn Miller, Sue MC Tuohy, Sumarsam, Eric Galm, Martin Stokes, and Brenda Berrian. Book