As ever interesting-sounding long form examinations of jazz are thin on the ground unless you enjoy monographs written by desperate academics looking over their shoulders to hang on to their tenure complete with usually flakey research (reheated PhDs half the time); or over-worthy sprints by writer fans who have become keepers of the flame somehow.

The latter are usually less pretentious with more heart to them and despite being produced against all odds on a shoestring without the support of a university or proper advance put the cosseted academics to shame with their superior leg-work and analysis (for instance Simon Spillett’s recent Tubby Hayes book).

Nothing like either of the categories above completely covers Microgroove, which is published in a UK paperback edition first in late-August. More like essays whose subjects include Joe Harriott and Bernie McGann, John Stevens, the Brötz, Milford Graves, Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, Misha Mengelberg and Anthony Braxton and a whole lot more besides there are also interviews and musician profiles that, according to the publisher Duke Univerity Press “focus on jazz, improvised music, contemporary classical, rock, folk, blues, post-punk, and cartoon music.” Other pre-publication blurb mentions one theme as the author “advocates for the relevance of ‘little’ music, which despite its smaller audience is of enormous cultural significance.”

Corbett you might be familiar with from the pages of The Wire and Downbeat and even recall his brief tenure in Berlin 13 years before fellow writer new incumbent Richard Williams became artistic director of Jazz Fest Berlin.

There’s more on this fresh-sounding book by consistently one of the wisest and more eloquent US jazz writers here