With bright colors for summer heat, Wax Poetics 29 blasts into the funky avant-garde with Herbie Hancock and his Mwandishi band, written by producer Kirk Degiorgio. Mark Skillz returns with another old-school hip-hop cover feature: Spoonie Gee lit up the streets with his tales of gritty realism.

re:Discovery Gregory Isaacs, Missy Dee & The Melody Crew, Compost, Mr. Complex, Primitive Higher Ground Israeli Multi-Instrumentalist Kutiman Gets Inspired Root Down Plantlife’s Jack Splash Cultivates Homegrown Formula for Success Kindred Spirits Ocote Soul Sounds Fosters Folk Traditions The Israelites Chicago Expats Bring Spiritual Soul to the Holy Land Songs of Freedom The Musical Liberation of Funky Lagos Ghost in the Machine Overshadowed Producer K-Def Makes Noise With His MPC Primary Colors Back to Basics with Pete Rock Mise-En-Scene The Cinematic Orchestra Sets the Mood With Sound Noir True to Self Lee Fields Rediscovers New Ways to Make His Music Leader of the Free World Jazzman Sam Rivers Helmed the New York Loft Scene and Charted a New Direction for Big Band The Life of a Chameleon Composer and Jazz Pianist Lalo Schifrin Harmonizes with His Musical Surroundings Journeys into Space Herbie Hancock and His Mwandishi Band Explored the Funky Outer Limits of the Avant-Garde Street’s Disciple Spoonie Gee Delivered Some of Rap’s First Urban Sermons Rhythm Revolution Saxophonist Cedric Brooks Weaves the Rebellious History of Jamaica Into His Music Hip-hop Bound Freddy Fresh Produces the Encyclopedia of Rap Records Nova Beat As Jackson Conti, Madlib and Mamao Craft Stellar Brazilian Record