A very notable book that was recently indexed by Southwest Humanities, not only for its subject matter (the technical history of jazz music production and distribution) but also for its indexical density, Darren Mueller’s At the Vanguard of Vinyl: A Cultural History of the Long-Playing Record in Jazz (Duke University Press, 2024) has just been published. At the Vanguard of Vinyl provides a close analysis of the introduction and growth of the vinyl LP format for jazz records, beginning in the 1930s and 1940s, deep insight into the recording and studio techniques of producing live (or “live,” as it were) jazz recordings, as well as an overview of independent jazz record labels owned and/or managed by artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus. “Exploring how musicians, producers, and other industry professionals navigated [the power relations of the politics of race in the US], Mueller contends that the practice of making LPs significantly changed how jazz was created, heard, and understood in the 1950s and beyond. By attending to the details of audio production, he reveals how Black musicians … worked to redefine prevailing notions of race and cultural difference within the United States.” At the Vanguard of Vinyl is currently available for purchase, and you can find more information about this exciting new title at the publisher’s website here.