Wax Poetics, the inimitable bimonthly journal of old-school hiphop, funk, soul and more, has published an all-jazz issue well worth checking out. Highlights include articles on:

• pianist and underground jazz/community activist Horace Tapscott
• guitarist Melvin Sparks
• producers Creed Taylor, Joel Dorn, and Richard Evans (the latter was the force behind many late-1960s Cadet releases, including Woody Herman's Light My Fire)

Wax Poetics tends to endorse, rather proudly, the kind of 1960s/70s crossover jazz that doesn't generally sit well with some jazz fans. In part, that's because Wax Poetics jazz tends to be the same stuff that hip-hop artists have often ended up sampling.

I always find the magazine a fascinating read, though. I often curse out loud when I pick up a new issue at my local record store, in fact, because there's usually one jazz article, and the editors have a real knack for choosing artists whom I find irresistible as subject matter: Ahmad Jamal, Sam Rivers, and Phil Ranelin have all been featured. Minutes after I pick it up, I'm sliding more coins across the counter.

External Links

• If your local music store or periodicals vendor doesn't carry the magazine, you can order the all-jazz issue here...
• ...or you can visit the Wax Poetics website.