Kurt Kutmasta - Vintage Fresh - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Combining straight-up, undecorated hip-hop beats with a fun house's worth of eerie goofiness is the way producer/remixer Kutmasta Kurt woos folks like the Beastie Boys, Linkin' Park, Kool Keith, and a sizable portion of the underground rap fan base. The title of his stunning, career-spanning compilation, Redneck Games, is just another joke from the Mexican-wrestling, mask-wearing producer, a man who's too street to be redneck and too hardcore to play games. Besides his work with the Beasties, Kurt's highest profile track has to be his remix of Linkin Park's InchIn the EndInch - included here. It's one of the most real mixes of hip-hop attitude and alt-metal angst, but everything else is down-low, killer street stuff. That doesn't mean Redneck Games is inaccessible; Kurt's beats are as lively and engaging as they are visceral and urgent. The word-filled InchRedemptionInch from Blackalicious is positively bouncy in Kurt's remix, and that the great Inch360 DegreesInch from Del and Mr. Lif didn't burn up radio must be radio's misjudgment since the beat is right there and demands repeat listens. You can't experience the way the man evenly tempers an album by this loose collection of tracks, but the man who has most benefited from Kurt's full-length mentality, Kool Keith, is brilliantly represented by the mad-funky InchI Don't Believe You.Inch Motion Man's InchShow Up for PracticeInch should be on every motivational mixtape you make from now on, and if Kurt's scratching on Planet Asia and 427's InchBringin' It BackInch doesn't get your party started, it's hopeless. If your hip-hop needs are a solid beat topped with wild ideas and mad skills sprinkled on top, Redneck Olympics is 22 tracks of funky noise for your pleasure and a taste of Kutmasta Kurt's great contribution to hip-hop. - David Jeffries

Carolina Blue is a Brevard, NC based band whose roots run deep in the tradition of Bill Monroe. The band was formed in 2007 after the of the album InchNothing So BlueInch by Bobby Powell and Tim Jones. Carolina Blue won the South Carolina state bluegrass championship at RenoFest in 2011. They also received their first Vocal Group of The Year Nomination at the 2018 SPBGMA Awards Show. They have appeared on the hit TV show InchSong Of The MountainsInch as well as InchThe Bluegrass TrailInch series on RFDTV. The band's repertoire consists of original songs (including Tim Jones' InchSpring Will Bring FlowersInch, which was recorded by 2014 IBMA entertainers of the year Balsam Range), many bluegrass favorites, and gospel too, all done in the traditional style. Available recordings are Bobby Powell & Tim Jones InchNothing So BlueInch (2007 produced by Steep Canyon Ranger Woody Platt and featuring Platt, Graham Sharp, Mike Guggino, Shannon Whitworth, and Roy Chapman), InchCarolina Blue Live at RenofestInch (2011), self produced InchGoin' Home TodayInch (2016) which earned them their first song on the charts, and most recently released InchSounds of Kentucky GrassInch (2017) which landed the band their first #1 album on the Roots Music Charts. Most currently InchI Hear Bluegrass Calling MeInchis set to on January 18th, 2019. Band members are Bobby Powell on guitar and vocals, Timmy Jones on mandolin and vocals, Reese Combs on upright bass and vocals, James McDowell on banjo and vocals, as well as American and Canadian Grand Master Fiddle Champion, Aynsley Porchak on fiddle, who is recipient of the 2018 International Bluegrass Music Association's Momentum Instrumentalist Award

Kurt Edelhagen formed his first orchestra immediately after World War II, he had been playing piano in clubs for the allied armies. Personally selecting the musicians for his orchestra enabled a band of the highest quality to be created. Before 1946 had ended Kurt's first band was already in operation. He continued to lead big bands that performed for radio and studio recording purposes until the 1970's. Edelhagen's various orchestras featured a wide range of big band music, but always with a powerful brass ensemble sound. He was one of the first post-war European band leaders to feature foreign Jazz musicians, including Dusko Goykovich, Jimmy Deuchar, Derek Humble and Jiggs Whigham. The recordings on this compact disc feature swinging tracks from 1950 to 1954.