Straight No Chaser

I?ve written about U.S. jazz publications in the past here at the site. JazzTimes continues to do a great job exposing modern jazz. Recent issues had interviews and reports on Jaga Jazzist, Ken Vandermark, and Madlib?s Blue Note CD. Down Beat sometimes has an article of interest to me. Jazziz is in plastic so I can?t peruse it in the bookstore. Now, two international jazz-related titles have made their way here and have quickly become new favorite reads.

You can find Jazzwise at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Jazzwise labels itself ?The UK’s leading jazz monthly and the only magazine devoted to covering the entire spectrum, from cutting-edge contemporary jazz, mainstream, fusion and improv to jazz-club crossover and world-jazz.? This month?s issue has a cover story on David Sanborn as well as articles on Lizz Wright, John Scofield, and Steely Dan.

Unfortunately, my new favorite magazine didn?t provide a handy description on its web site. I can?t describe the music covered in Straight No Chaser. They call it ?Interplanetary Sounds: Ancient To Future?. I know that the magazine covers artists that I?m interested in right now and that it is the coolest music magazine on the stands. If you liked the Detroit Experiment release, you?ll love the new issue as Amp Fiddler and Carl Craig are featured. There are interviews with Matthew Shipp and Wayne Shorter. Even looking at the ads in this magazine reveals jazz artists we?ve not heard of in the U.S. If you?re like me, you?ll spend many hours looking up some of these artists on the Internet and sampling their music.

The magazine stretches beyond jazz into all types of future music, from Brazilian to hip-hop to electronica. It features dozens of reviews. It?s presented in a brilliant, award-deserving design that is inspiring me while I gradually work on a new look for this site. It is the magazine for the open-eared music fan. Look for it at Borders.