A massive overview of modern art in late 20th Century China – put together by a gallerist who's helped open up this material to the world at large over the past few decades! The heavy volume is enormous, over 400 pages, and overflowing with color images – not just artworks, but photographs of performances and other creative actions – accompanied by a huge amount of history and analysis by Gao Minglu, who clearly knows his stuff! There's far more text than you'll find in the usual oversized art book, but the volume also doesn't skimp on images either – which makes for a very vivid history of a world that most of us would not experience otherwise. Book

There's a big discography of postwar jazz from the west coast scene inside – including classic records like the Gerry Mulligan 10" LP pictured on the cover, and lots more unusual and obscure albums too! The issue serves things up in Japanese "disc guide" format – with a small image of the record covers, then other details in English, and more in Japanese – with listings of key records, prefaced by a cool color section too. The rest of the issue follows with more jazz features too – all with black and white images and photos next to text in Japanese – with a total of 216 pages, in a book-styled cover. Book

This issue looks at jazz singers from the postwar years onwards – starting with the generation of Jennie Smith, who's pictured on the cover – and running up through key hip vocalists well into the 21st Century! The issue follows previous ones in that it has a discography of the artists within – with a few key albums of dozens of singers, presented with a black and white image of the album cover, and other details in English – a huge rundown of vocalists, with a lot of albums to discover! And as always, there's other features too – a cool color section at the start, jazz reviews and other news, in a total of 216 pages with black and white images throughout. Book

A great guide for digging into the world of Japanese music from the mid 80s onward – and a book that's different than some of the more vinyl-centric disc guide, in that it focuses strongly on city pop titles that were only issued on CD! The Japanese city pop movement really got going at the start of the 80s, when vinyl and cassette were still king and queen – but it kept on going even after formats shifted – at a level that makes this book such a key document of the scene and style, which is often just tied to the vinyl market. As with other Japanese disc guides, the bulk of the text is in Japanese – which can now easily be read using Google Translate on your phone – but the book has entries for hundreds of titles, each with a full color image of the cover – which will offer up plenty of information for your digging. The book has a few other features alongside the disc listings – and is a total of 242 pages, softcover, with hundreds of full color images throughout. Book

Writer Paul Steinbeck has already given us a great book on the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – but this time around, he looks at the larger scene from which they came, the groundbreaking AACM moment in jazz, which emerged in Chicago in the late 60s! Steinbeck provides some cultural and historical context, but also focuses in on key recordings that helped to define the special genius of AACM musicians and their united vision – with an approach that's build around different records on a chapter by chapter basis – even leading up to a few more recent recordings that show the continuing influence and growth of the organization. Along the way, Steinbeck provides some musical notations and deeper analysis of the sounds from his perspective as a musicologist – very illuminating to us, as we tend to have much more of a visceral response to these records – a lineup that includes Air Time by Air, Levels & Degrees Of Light by Muhal Richard Abrams, Sound by Roscoe Mitchell, Voyager by George Lewis, Nonaah by Roscoe Mitchell, Composition 76 by Anthony Braxton, Ten Freedom Summers by Wadada Leo Smith, and Mandorla Awakening II by Nicole Mitchell. The hardcover book features many charts and scores throughout – and is a total of 272 pages in length. Book

A fantastic window into the record bar scene in Japan – served up here in a beautiful publication that's filled with photos of all these cool little clubs that are stuffed full of records – dedicated to presenting quality jazz music on vinyl, over a top-notch sound system – all while also serving up great drinks and light food in an intimate setting! These aren't the kinds of clubs where DJs go nuts for dancers – and instead, the experience is very intimate, very relaxing, and very Japanese – a way of digging jazz in a public space that's beyond compare, and which is very unique to their scene. The rooms are often little temples to vinyl and jazz – filled with thousands of records in a beautiful space, as you'll see as you flip through the many full color images in the book. This second volume includes a great array of unique spots in Japan – clubs with names that include Blue Note Kanagawa, Billie's Bar, Clart, Jazz Bar Herbie, Jazz Time Kelly, Joe Pass, Lady Jane, Elvin, and dozens of others – all with these fantastic full color photographs, spread out over a total of 157 pages, with some text in Japanese and English. Book

A second great dip into the world of "flop" albums from the past – records that maybe didn't dent the charts or make anyone a fortune at the time – but which have gone on to become the stuff of legend over the years! These aren't crappy records or total dreck – and instead, many are musical masterpieces that weren't appreciated when they were released, but which have grown to gain huge respect as the decades have moved on – albums by The Kinks, Lee Dorsey, Fred Neil, Dead Boys, Gang Of Four, Roxy Music, Willie Nelson, and dozens of others – each summed up here in an essay that runs a few pages for each record – along with images of the covers in black and white, and other pertinent details as well! The book is arranged chronologically – records from 1963 through 1989 – and this edition is 392 pages, with mostly black and white images, and a few color ones as well. Book