[proper]

Various Artists - Deep Ska - 80 Original Ska Classics (1999) {4CD Set Proper Records PROPER BOX4}
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© 1999 Proper Records | PROPER BOX4
Ska / Reggae / Rocksteady / Roots Reggae

This compilation should have been subtitled "Duke Reid: The Early Years," as the four-CD box set is drawn exclusively from the great producer's archives. Half the set, interestingly enough, comprises instrumentals, the great majority courtesy of the Skatalites, although Baba Brooks and Drumbago are also well represented. Even a few U.K. groups get to strut their stuff; the Pyramids, Rico Rodiguez' All Stars, and Blue Rivers & the Maroons all put in an appearance. And so boogies, big band swing, and R&B surge out from the grooves, as hit after instrumental classic stream by, interspersed by the vocal tracks.

Various Artists - Bluegrass Bonanza (2001) {4CD Set, Proper Records PROPERBOX29 rec 1920'-1950'}
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© 1920'-50', 2001 Proper Records | PROPERBOX29
Country / Folk / Bluegrass / Hillbilly / North American Traditions / Old-Timey

The 109 cuts in this box set document the evolution of bluegrass from its roots in early 20th-Century mountain string bands. Before the set ends in 1950, Bill Monroe, followed shortly thereafter by the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs, has formalized a genre – it had yet to be called "bluegrass" – from which formula, more than half a century later, performers within the genre depart at their peril. The songs (and occasional instrumentals) are well chosen, and the sound quality is cleaner and sharper than one would expect from vintage recordings, some going back to the late 1920s.

Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz Trumpet Giant (2004) {4CD Set, Proper Records PROPERBOX69 rec 1935-1953}
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© 1935-53, 2004 Proper Records | PROPERBOX 69
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Swing / Trumpet

Roy Eldridge might have been short, but he was a giant among trumpeters, one of the best of all time, forming a link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. This 4 CD collection is full of hot trumpet blowing from 1935 to 1953 in both big band and small jazz ensemble settings with many famous musicians as Nikica Gillic already mentioned in his review. His trumpet playing is as good as Armstrong's in my book, but without Armstrong's bufoonery.

Bassist Charles Fambrough gathered together a rather impressive lineup of young greats (including on various cuts trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Joe Ford, keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, drummer Jeff Watts, and three percussionists) for a set of tricky hard bop originals. The interplay between the two Marsalises on the rapid "Broksi" is a high point, but the solos throughout the date are uniformly strong. Fambrough (who contributed seven of the pieces) stated accurately that the music reflects his periods with McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey, Grover Washington, Jr., and Airto. His well-conceived set is highly recommended.

Nick Lowe - The Brentford Trilogy (2009) {3CD Set, Proper Records–Yeproc PRPCD025 rec 1994-2001}
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© 2009 Proper Records / Yeproc Records | PRPCD025
Rock / Rock'n'Roll / Americana / Power Pop / Roots Rock / Pub Rock

Nick Lowe's triumphant return to the indie world back in 1994 was marked by the release of the critically acclaimed The Impossible Bird by Upstart Records. With the overall excitement that followed the release, it was evident that Nick's music had taken a slightly different twist on the road to a more mature tone and stripped down musical arrangement. And although it was unknown at the time, Nick's next two records Dig My Mood and The Convincer would travel the same road, achieving greater results and success with each effort.

Cowboy Junkies - All That Reckoning (2018) {Proper Records PRPCD149}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 282 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 110 Mb
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© 2018 Proper Records / Latent Recordings | PRPCD149
Rock / Alternative Country / Adult Alternative / Coutry Rock

It's remarkable in itself that in 2018, the Cowboy Junkies still have the same lineup that recorded their debut album, Whites Off Earth Now!!, in 1986. But it's even more surprising that more than three decades into their career, the band's essential formula remains very much the same, and what's more, that it still works. Released in 2018, All That Reckoning is less spare and severe than the group's most celebrated early material, with the occasional report of a jagged synthesizer or electric guitar, but even though the arrangements are more fleshed-out and the production more ambitious, the Cowboy Junkies continue to lay out languid, contemplative melodies favoring the low end of the register, with the rich but spectral vocals of Margo Timmins drizzled over the top like honey.

On his fourth studio effort and first for Blue Note Records, 2017's Parking Lot Symphony, New Orleans singer, songwriter, and brass wizard Troy Andrews (aka Trombone Shorty) fully embraces the organic '70s-style R&B he’s heretofore only touched on. Ever since officially debuting in 2010 with Backatown, Andrews has moved ever closer to that '70s soul aesthetic with each subsequent album. Backatown even featured contributions from both Lenny Kravitz and legendary New Orleans pianist Allen Toussaint. In fact, his previous effort, 2013's Say That to Say This, had a similarly old-school bent courtesy of neo-soul master and co-producer Raphael Saadiq. But for Parking Lot Symphony, Andrews dives into the sound full-force, paired with producer Chris Seefried (Fitz & the Tantrums, Haley Reinhart, Andra Day) on a set of songs that bring to mind the earthy, vinyl-laden vibe of '70s artists like New Orleans own the Meters..