A graphically improved re-edition and re-invention of a book that first appeared in 1999, subtitled Connections between Afro-beats, Rhythm and Blues, Hip-hop, Reggae and more. David Corio's classic portraits, made since 1976, usually for a publication or label but often for love, spell out much of the arc of Black popular music in the second half of the twentieth century, and Vivien Goldman's text, drawn from a lifetime of interviews as a music journalist, contextualises every artist; the portraits have been swapped in a few places, but the line-up of brilliance they represent is unchanged. Reflecting on how music flowed in cycles of creativity, and how the Africa from which so many people had been stolen remained the foundation for nearly everything they loved to listen to, the authors named the book The Black Chord, since however different the sounds, together they form one mighty harmony. The portrait gallery includes Bob Marley, Nina Simone and Biz Markie, and many of the subjects have since left us while others shine even more brightly.