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Online Gift Catalogue

STOP!  Don’t go and buy another pretty coffee table book that looks great but provides its recipient with only an hour or two of vacuous and ephemeral enjoyment before transforming into a lifeless chunk that its new owner struggles with guilt feelings over before giving it the inevitable heave-ho.  Just say no to that CD Box of best-selling “classics” that everyone has heard so many times already that any pleasure in owning them (again) is diminished to the point of near non-existence.  That best-seller that everyone feels that they have to read, but no one actually wants to?  Pass.  And those nifty high-priced repackagings of  “favorite” comics that everybody who's interested already has?  Ditto.

Be adventurous and provide gifts that surprise and enthuse, that stimulate the senses more than they drain the wallet, and that will be treasured for years to come.


Title Artist Publisher Price
The Harrow & the Harvest Gillian Welch Acony $13.88
($15.98 list)
Gillian-welch-the-harrow-the-harvest
Read more and comment... 		Gillian Welch and her long time musical cohort, David Rawlings are back at last with their first new record since 2003's Soul Journey.  We've only had the chance to give this one listen so far, but we look forward to a long summer of replays and feel safe in saying it's going to fit quite comfortably along with the rest of their catalogue of works and that we'll be enjoying it for years to come.  In other words:  it's been worth the wait. 
Blood From Stars Joe Henry Anti- $15.97
($17.98 list)
Blood-from-stars-sm
Read more and comment... 		Another impossibly good album from the one and only Joe Henry.  Amazingly, you can listen to the entire LP online at his site, HERE (Just click on "Launch MP3 player to listen").  And while you're listening to it, you can take a moment to read the note he penned on the day of its release, HERE.  And, please note that both the package and booklet covers feature photographs taken by Eugene Smith in Pittsburgh, PA during his epic Dream Street project of 1955-56.
King Louis Proper Box 93: Louis Armstrong Proper Records $29.75
Properbox93
Read more and comment... 		99 Tracks of absolute greatness.  This is the music that defines the  twentieth century, that once and for all distinguished the unique and original culture of The New World from that of its Old World forebears.  Louis Armstrong changed the face of music and the music he created changed history.  His career is nothing short of miraculous.  No self-respecting American can be ignorant of the music contained on this set: it's the real declaration of independence.  Finally, this music gets the Proper Box treatment:  Five hours of music on four discs, each enclosed in their own LP-style jacket, accompanied by an informative 40-page illustrated booklet, all packed in a stylish, compact box for the copacetic price of only $29.75! 
Masterpieces 1926-1949 Duke Ellington Proper Records $29.75
($33.95 list)
3dpbox25
Read more and comment... 		The best of the best, the créme de la créme, the Duke Ellington Proper Box is 98 tracks on four CDs filling five hours of the digital time/space continuum with the greatest jazz there ever was.  It simply doesn’t get any better than this.  Really.  This is music that can't be outgrown. No on can be disappointed with this music.  It can be listened to over and over again for a lifetime, and will renew the listener's spirits each time without fail.  Duke Ellington was arguably (and we're ready, willing and able to argue this case!) the most significant composer of the twentieth century.  When he said, "We love you madly," he meant it.  The music here is an expression of that love.    
Handful of Keys "Fats" Waller Proper Records $29.75
($33.95 list)
OUT OF STOCK!
3dpbox71
Read more and comment... 		YES!!!  At last it has come to pass:  Fats Waller gets the Proper treatment.  More than any insurance policy, the music of Fats Waller will keep you sleeping safe and sound, knowing that you have bullet-proof protection from the blues.  It's simply impossible to be down when Fats is on:  He'll turn your frown upside-down.  Of all the great personalities of jazz, Fats is -- aside from Louis Armstrong -- probably the greatest. Fats would be a legend just for his mastery of the keyboard with which he launched his career,  but he has so much more to offer.  He crafted a true persona which he then donned for each and every performance.  And what performances!  Fats was the very embodiment of entertainment.  And finally, there's the songs themselves.  While Fats could take practically any tin-pan alley tune -- like, for example, My Very Good Friend the Milkman -- and transform it into a timeless classic, he also happened to be one of the greatest song writers of all times.  He brought a jazz sensibility to show tunes and a show tune sensibility to jazz.  Some, like Ain't Misbehavin',  have become standards, interpreted over and over again by cats of all colors, able to be made fresh each time. Others, like Squeeze Me, belong to Fats alone.  The people of Proper Records really had their work cut out for them with this one:  how do you bring the whole of Fats when you have a mere four CDs?  It's painful to leave out even one timeless classic!  Handful of Keys proves once again why Proper Records is the reigning champion of classic jazz packages:  On 100 big tracks, Fats is here in all his glory, from his early days as keyboard prodigy to his final blazing days of songmanship.  This is a set that will bring a lifetime of enjoyment.  If Fats isn't part of your life, then, man, you ain't livin'!  As with all Proper Box sets, this one contains five hours of music mastered with the jazz EQ in mind by people who know what they're doing, and comes complete with a 48 page career overview and appreciation by the Mr. Know-It-All of classic jazz, Joop Visser, and, to top it all off, a complete track by track breakdown of who played what on each and every song as well as when and where it was recorded.  It's a proper deal!  Here's the complete track listing and discography.