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.

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.

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.