An amazing history of Japanese jazz, and another great testament to the impact jazz had on global cluture! The book covers the entire history of Japanese jazz, from the first wave in the dancehalls of the 1920s, to the amazing renaissance of the 60s and 70s. It's a well-paced, incredibly researched, thoughtfully laid out story that we are glad to have had the opportunity to enjoy – with a lot history of that is deeply neglected in the Dusty Groove half of the world, if not everywhere. There are life stories of passionate, unrecognized musicians that mirror those in other parts of the world, as well as those unique to the Japanese experience. Atkins understands the artistic impulses of the musicians and followers, which is essential to the book's appeal to music freaks like us, but he's also an accomplished historian with a great capacity for conveying the nationalist cultural big picture. More than 350 pages, including the bibliography (which is worth the price alone) with a lot of amazing photos that help push the narrative along at a fast clip, not unlike a great piece of music! Book

A great look at a really unique moment in fashion – a time when the mainstream trappings of ivy league styles were taken up by African-American cultural figures – a moment of cooption that led was key to a rising sense of pride and power in the postwar years! You'll instantly recognize the look from the image of Miles Davis on the cover – and Davis is one of the figures who gets focus in the book – alongside other jazz musicians like Billy Taylor and Sonny Rollins, writers like Amiri Baraka and James Baldwin, and civil rights icons like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X – all of whom wore button down shirts, well-crafted blazers, and hip skinny ties as they helped forge a whole new identity for black America in the 50s and 60s. The book is beautifully done – and ties together so many images we know from the press and record covers, mixed with others we're seeing here for the first time – all give thoughtful text along the way by British writer Jason Jules. The heavy, hardcover book is 224 pages in all – with color and black and white images throughout. Book