Wax Poetics Anthology Volume 1 - Waxpoetics

In just five years, Wax Poetics has become the premier magazine for avid record collectors and general music connoisseurs alike by illuminating the golden era of music while recontextualizing today’s music world. Much like the records they cover, Wax Poetics issues have themselves become quite collectible.

In response to the high demand for the publication’s elusive back issues, the Wax Poetics Anthology Volume 1 serves as the answer to every collector’s dream. Wax Poetics has compiled their favorite articles from Issues 1 through 5 and are giving them new life via this full-color, hardbound edition. By enhancing past editions by means of new illustrations, photographs, and an appendix of discographies, both dedicated followers and music fans formerly unaware of the magazine’s presence will be able to appreciate this comprehensive collection of insightful articles. From jazz and hip-hop heavyweights to soul and funk session musicians, the Wax Poetics Anthology delivers an eclectic blend of quality journalism and musical history.

Highlights
• James Brown’s drummers Clyde Stubblefield and Jab’O Starks, bassist Sweet Charles, and vocalist Marva Whitney
• Jazz genius Charles Mingus
• Funky drummers Idris Muhammad and Pretty Purdie
• Salsa giant Fania Records
• Reggae producers Clive Chin and King Tubby
• Golden-era hip-hop producers Prince Paul, Da Beatminerz, Diamond D, and Wu-Tang’s the RZA
• Films Wild Style and Style Wars
• Breakbeat bootleg Ultimate Breaks & Beats
• Rare-record reviews

Publisher's Weekly starred review:
Dedicated to highlighting lesser-known musicians and artists, primarily in the hip hop, jazz and blues fields, Wax Poetics magazine has gained a strong following among music obsessives for its in-depth interviews, informed writing and concern over musical minutiae. This compilation of “favorite” articles from the hard-to-find magazine’s first five issues is a must-have for anyone with a deep interest in American music and the culture surrounding it. Interviews include two of James Brown’s most famous drummers—Jab’O Starks and Clyde Stubblefield, the latter of whom is behind “Funky Drummer,” one of the most-sampled pieces in hip-hop—as well as the Beatminerz, who discuss their never-ending quest for new and groundbreaking samples, and more usual suspects like Prince Paul, Diamond D and RZA. Andrew Mason offers a detailed guide to the Ultimate Breaks and Beats series, a classic source for turntablists, and Karl Hagstrom Miller’s story of stumbling across a rare Charles Mingus album (“Make Checks Payable to Charles Mingus”) is alone worth the cover price. Though many of the figures and themes may be too obscure for casual listeners, vinyl collectors and OCD-style music fans will find an illuminating treasure trove in the first of what promises to be an essential series.