Our first issue of 2008 showcases a strong redesign. Hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash gets cover honors, but it’s the whole Furious Five who get the props inside. The late, great Eddie Harris is on our back cover; writer John Kruth fleshes out his story by speaking to those who worked with the saxman.

re:Discovery Opus Seven, Cornell Campbell, Casual-T, Marini, Karen Young In Memoriam: Joel Dorn 1942-2007, Carlos “Patato” Valdes 1926-2007, Pimp C 1973-2007, Oscar Peterson 1925-2007, Tom Terrell 1950-2007 Border Crossing Brownout Traffics in Tejano Funk Crate Moments in History Blue Note Digs Golden-Era Hip-Hop Brass Reconstruction New Orleans’s Hot 8 are Second-Line Saviors Thisisit Camp Lo Wants a Piece of the Action Collective Vibrations L.A.’s Build an Ark Manifests Peace Through Music Forbidden Fruits Castro’s Communist Cuba Proves Fertile Ground for Experimental Music Scene The Strategist Fabled Soul Commander Mighty Hannibal Plays both Ends Against the Middle The Outsider Varitone Visionary Eddie Harris’s Perpetual Search for the Edges The Pinch Hitter Multi-instrumentalist Derf Reklaw Holds a Key Position in the Chicago Lineup Digital Chemistry Newcleus is at the Center of the Electro Cosmos Once Upon a Time in the Boogie Down Bronx Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Help Hip-Hop Get Props The Washington Monument Chuck Brown Grounded Go-Go in the Call-and-Response of Chocolate City What it Really is Cleveland’s S.O.U.L. Sets the Record Straight Masterpiece Theatre American Jazz Legends Make Moving Pictures Abroad Jazz icons series