Boz Scaggs Flac

He didn't go so far as to call it Silk Degrees II, but Dig is as close as Boz Scaggs is likely to come to recording the sequel to his most commercially successful and, for many, best-loved record (unless you count 1977's underrated follow-up, Down Two Then Left). Reunited after all these years with Silk Degrees collaborator David Paich, Scaggs makes a successful return to the blue-eyed soul of his late-'70s works on tracks such as "Desire" and "Thanks to You," the latter featuring tastefully muted trumpet work from Roy Hargrove.

Boz Scaggs has had a long and varied career, playing blues, singing soul music, recording hits with smooth grooves, and taking his time with his temperamental muse. The Essential Boz Scaggs features 32 songs that tell the story of his solo career. It starts, after his stint in the Steve Miller Band, with his Atlantic Records self-titled debut album. Duane Allman fires up “Loan Me a Dime” with his trademark guitar work. Scaggs moved to Columbia Records, where he released a number of fine albums, culminating with the sleek, sophisticated grooves of Silk Degrees, provided by the band that would become Toto. Six tracks appear here, including the hits “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” and “Harbor Lights.”

But Beautiful is an album of pop standards by Boz Scaggs, released in 2003. An assured, logical next step in an enduring musical career, But Beautiful signals the arrival of an important new voice in the domain of the great American songbook. It features Scaggs performing standards such as Sophisticated Lady, and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered with the classic jazz quartet that includes pianist and arranger Paul Nagel and bright new star from the San Francisco jazz scene, saxophonist Eric Crystal. But Beautiful reached number one on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart in 2004.