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. Get your Waxpoetics at Boundless NY.

ROGER TROUTMAN’S talk box sings the Human Body electric Organist and Memphis native BOOKER T. JONES was the life force of the Stax sound.

THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA broke new musical ground despite icy relationships.

Musician BYRON LEE’S renowned studio lit a fire under Jamaica’s music scene.

Dust Brother E.Z. MIKE SIMPSON pulls endless possibilities from the funky past.

Rapper DEF JEF weighed in with a conscious voice.

RALPH MACDONALD put his artistic touch on classic soul and jazz sides.

LORD FINESSE is on a habitual quest for musical knowledge.

EL MICHELS AFFAIR channels the Wu-Tang Clan’s ruckus.

STS9 integrates the power of the computer into its live instrumentation.

U.K.’s BROKEN KEYS forged a funky core of heavy sounds.

GLASS CANDY fights to shatter disco’s stereotypes.

Analog Out: TALK BOX

Wax Poetics is available at Boundless NY.

Bill Withers from the soul, Herbie Mann,Detroit Techno, Brazilian Soul, Cut Chemist, Studio One.