Hummin to Myself

Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Collectors' Edition - 39 Sad Songs (1985-87) {3CD 1996 Basta Audio Box}
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© 1985-87, 1996 Idiot Records / Basta Audio/Visuals | 30-9037-2
Jazz / Cool Jazz / Modern Big Band / Jazz Blues

Growing out of the festival in Holland of the same name, Boulevard of Broken Dreams is a retro big band reveling in tunes from and around The Great Depression - a time of broken dreams. These folks love this music. Besides the musicianship, how else can you explain these phenomena? Even though the songs are generally sad there is a level of fun energy running through the entire set.

Due to its name and the fact that its core comprises a swing-based string band, listeners might be excused if they believe that the Hot Club of San Francisco closely resembles Django Reinhardt's band of the 1930s, the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Actually Django is the main inspiration for guitarist Paul Mehling and his quartet (comprising three acoustic guitars and a bass) but the results are far from derivative. Of the dozen tracks on the fine release from Clarity, the Hot Club accompanies three excellent singers on two songs apiece: Maria Muldaur (who sounds quite enthusiastic on "Nature Boy" and "Don't Be That Way"), Dan Hicks (famous for leading his Hot Licks) and veteran blues veteran Barbara Dane…

Pat Boone - The Fifties Complete (1953-1959) {12CD Set Bear Family BCD15884 rel 1997}
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© 1953-59, 1997 Bear Family Records | BCD 15 884 LK
Pop / Early Pop / Rock'n'Roll / Ballad / Vocal

This 12-CD box set containing 347 songs – Pat Boone's entire 1950s recorded output, including over 80 previously unissued tracks – deserves an honest, open-minded, and thorough examination. Listeners may like or dislike Pat Boone's early R&B hits – "Two Hearts," "Ain't That a Shame," "Tutti Frutti," etc. – but it is important to remember that those songs comprise but a very small part of his 1950s recorded output and demonstrate one side only of his amazing versatility.

Ubiquity (1971). Roy Ayers' leap to the Polydor label inaugurates his music's evolution away from the more traditional jazz of his earlier Atlantic LPs toward the infectious, funk-inspired fusion that still divides critics and fans even decades after the fact. Although Ubiquity maintains one foot in Ayers' hard bop origins, the record favors soulful grooves and sun-kissed textures that flirt openly and unapologetically with commercial tastes. Several cuts feature the male/female vocals that would become a hallmark of subsequent Ubiquity efforts, while mid-tempo instrumentals like "Pretty Brown Skin" and "The Painted Desert" feature evocatively cinematic arrangements and intriguing solos that unfurl like psychedelic freak flags…

Various Artists - The Complete Stax & Volt Singles 1959-1968 (1991) {9CD Set Reissued 2016 Digitally Remastered}
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©1959-68, 1991, 2016 Atlantic / ATCO / Rhino / Warner | 081227954666
R&B / Blues / Soul / Doo Wop / Early Pop / Funk / Soul-Blues / Early R&B

9CD reconfiguration of original Atlantic box set, featuring every A-side the label released during those nine years, as well as several B-sides. The set is a definitive portrait of gritty, deep Southern soul. For any serious soul or rock collector, it's an essential set, since Stax-Volt was not only a musically revolutionary label, its roster was deep with talent, which means much of the music on this collection is first-rate. 11 of these singles charted on Billboard.