Label: Proper

2017 sophomore release from the super-group featuring drummer Ray Luzier (KoRn), guitarist George Lynch (Lynch Mob) and King's X front- man dUg Pinnick. This is the follow up album to their highly successful 2014 self-titled debut release which landed at #31 on the Billboard Top 200. Scatterbrain features 13 brand new tracks and was recorded at the Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood California where the band once again tapped Chris "The Wizard" Collier (Flotsam & Jetsam/Prong/Last In Line) to engineer the new effort. From the infectious riff of the album opener "Scatterbrain" to the outro of "Angel," KXM have created something truly special and musically diverse. Songs like "Breakout," "Calypso," and "True Deceivers" are sonically different from each other taking the listener on a musical journey.

After performing a wide variety of music (much of it commercial) for 15 years, in the mid-'80s Dee Dee Bridgewater returned to jazz. The highly appealing vocalist, although still involved in theater work and other areas of music, has mostly recorded straight-ahead jazz ever since, carving out a niche for herself. This set with her regular French quartet has Bridgewater exploring and swinging some of her favorite standards. She makes such veteran songs as "Just One of Those Things," "What Is This Thing Called Love," "Autumn Leaves," and "Lullaby of Birdland" sound fresh and new. Bridgewater's next project would be a set of Horace Silver songs, and two of the pianist's originals ("Love Vibrations" and "Sister Sadie") are included and point toward the singer's future. This CD is highly recommended, as are all of Dee Dee Bridgewater's Verve recordings.

Miles Davis - Young Miles (2001) {4CD Set, Proper Records PROPERBOX 17 rec 1945-1950}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 620 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 625 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 210 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2001 Proper Records | PROPERBOX 17
Jazz / Bop / Trumpetz

This box set contains 82 tracks recorded by Miles Davis between 1945 and 1950. Miles' spark of genius was already apparent right from the start, and it's clear after listening to this set why Prestige gave him a lucrative recording contract which he would fulfill from 1951-1956 on his way to super-stardom. His distinctive sound on the trumpet is unmistakable here, even as a twenty year old…a sound that would delight the world for decades! This set is solid gold, filled with nuggets of beautiful jazz from start to finish. Many people may be content to limit their early Miles Davis collection to the Complete Birth Of The Cool CD, and that's fine, but you'll be missing out on lots of great music from one of the finest jazz artists of the 20th century!! The sound quality on this box set is great, save for a handful of recordings that are a little garbled but were included anyway because the playing is so beautiful.

On March 31, 2015, Kidjo released her collaboration with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. The album contains orchestral versions of 9 songs from previous albums and two original songs: Nanae and Otishe. All the songs are arranged by Gast Waltzing and David Laborier and the orchestra is conducted by Gast Waltzing. The Australian newspaper noted: "Kidjo opens what's arguably her most ambitious album by paying homage to her heroine, Miriam Makeba. None of her three previously released versions of Malaika can match the majesty and grandeur of this latest spine-tingling rendition, which features the singer in superlative voice (in Swahili) backed by the strings and wind instruments of the 110-piece Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Elsewhere, the consummate guitar playing of Kidjo's compatriot Lionel Loueke and Brazilian Romero Lubambo augment conductor-trumpeter Gast Waltzing's sumptuous arrangements.

Not long after releasing the dark and contemplative Schmilco in 2016, Wilco went on hiatus, and as the members involved themselves in various projects, leader Jeff Tweedy released his first two proper solo albums, 2018's Warm and it's 2019 sibling Warmer. Where Schmilco posessed a subtle but clear undercurrent of dread, Warm and Warmer were full of warmth and compassion, however wary, as if to offer solace after the band peeked into the abyss. After returning to the stage in mid-2019, Wilco have staked out a middle ground between Schmilco and the Warm duo on their thirteenth album. 2019's Ode to Joy comes from the noisier and more inward-looking side of the band's personality – this music will probably not go over at your next barbeque or game night – but as the lyrics contemplate a struggle between crippling fear and anxiety and a need to believe in something better, the music testifies to the strength of this band as they build something truly compelling and intelligent out of even the most seemingly formless soundscapes.

A year after his impressionistic, critically-lauded ECM debut Into The Silence, trumpeter Avishai Cohen s Cross My Palm With Silver introduces a program of new pieces which put the focus on the ensemble, on teamwork, with a quartet of the highest caliber. The adroit, almost telepathic interplay among the musicians allows Avishai Cohen to soar, making it clear why he is one of the most talked-about jazz musicians on the contemporary scene. All of these people together are my dream team , says the charismatic trumpeter of fellow players Yonathan Avishai, Barak Mori and Nasheet Waits, who share his sense for daring improvisation and his feeling for structure. I feel we're in a perfect place with the balance. It's open and there s so much room for the improvisation to take the music any place we can.

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..

Nine albums into a remarkably consistent post-Dire Straits solo career, Mark Knopfler has little to prove aside from living up to his own high standards. That's not to say he's incapable of surprises or the occasional left turn, but the general trajectory of his non-soundtrack output as far back as 2004's Shangri-La has continued to cut a pleasingly familiar groove that fuses his myriad preferences (country, jazz, blues, pub rock, folk, Celtic) into the distinctive brand of understated English roots rock that has become his bailiwick.

John’s brand new album was released on the 1st of March. John Illsley, a founder member of Dire Straits, has been making solo albums for several years now and then taking to the road to play the new songs along with the old Dire Straits hits. 2019 sees John with a brand new album, 'Coming Up for Air' and an unusual tour to go with it. Recorded at the beautiful British Grove studios, the new album features Robbie McIntosh and Scott Mckeon on guitars and a host of other exceptional musicians.