Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ UMe) Founded in 1956 by jazz impresario Norman Granz,
Verve Records, along with its associated labels, has consistently been at the forefront of jazz's development as both an American art form and an influential commercial force for more than half a century. In this time,
Verve continued to nurture and foster the careers of many of jazz's most original and influential artists, building a catalog that encompasses the most celebrated recordings while working to popularize the music with new and larger audiences.
On December 10, 2013,
Verve Records/Universal
Music Enterprises (UMe) will release
Verve - The Sound Of
America - The Singles Collection , a 5-CD collection featuring 100 singles from the
Verve catalog, over 20 of which have been out of print for years, all packaged in a stylish two-part, lift-off box with a 48-page booklet and extensive liner notes. Included are tracks from jazz legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Smith, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker,
Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Wes Montgomery, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins and
Astrud Gilberto.
It was at the tail end of 1955 that Norman Granz decided to form
Verve Records; he did so for Ella Fitzgerald, as he already managed her career, but also felt he knew how to make the kind of records the singer should be making - history has proven he was right. However, the story of
Verve goes back a decade or more where it can trace its roots in Granz's ambition to take jazz out of the clubs and into concert halls, as well as in Clef and Norgran, the record labels that he had been running for a number of years.
His "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concerts were groundbreaking and, for Granz, starting a record company was a way of expanding his JATP franchise, but almost immediately the artists that appeared in his concerts recognized the opportunity of making studio recordings. By the late 1940s and early 1950s the artists that Granz recorded for his Clef and Norgran labels included Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday,
Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Count Basie and Stan Getz.
Verve - The Sound Of
America - The Singles Collection takes you through the history of one of the most influential jazz labels of all-time with tracks such as Ella Fitzgerald's Top 50 hit "
Mack The Knife" (1960); Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto's Top 5, GRAMMY® Award winning hit "
The Girl From Ipanema" (1964); Jimmy Smith's Top 100 hit "The Cat" (1964) and Diana Krall's "
The Look Of Love" (2001). Also featured are jazz renditions of contemporary classics such as Wes Montgomery's version of The
Mamas & The Papas' classic hit "
California Dreaming" (1966), Don Sebesky's version of the
Beatles "The Word" (1968) and Willie Bobo's original version of "
Evil Ways" (1968), the song made famous by Santana.
The Sound Of
America also features many singles from the those early Clef and Norgran eras including Charlie Parker's "
Just Friends" (1949) and "Bloomdido" (1950) featuring
Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell and
Buddy Rich,
Dizzy Gillespie's "I Can't Get Started" (1956) featuring
Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson's "Debut" (1950), and Billie Holiday's "You Go To My Head" (1952) and "Tenderly" (1952).
The box set is being issued in conjunction with the November 4, 2013 publication of a lavishly illustrated, 400-page new book Verve: The Sound of
America written by Richard Havers and published by Thames & Hudson .
A stunning volume, Verve: The Sound of
America tells the entire story of jazz—from its earliest days in New Orleans to the 1970s and beyond—through
Verve archival material. This superb book presents some of the rarest records and unseen ephemera from the label that helped define the world of jazz. Hundreds of the best examples of iconic seven-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch records appear along with publicity reports, news clippings, ledger books, telegrams, and contracts. Looking beyond the music scene, the book discusses segregation in America, the missions to take jazz to
Europe and the world, the clubs, the places, and the people who made jazz vital. Commentary from the biggest names in jazz today, including some of Verve's own artists, complements the text. Richard Havers's previous books include Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey and Sinatra . He is a consultant to Universal on jazz and has produced box sets including Louis Armstrong: Ambassador of Jazz and Ella Fitzgerald: The Voice of Jazz .
With a vital combination of respect for the past and a drive towards the future,
Verve continues to pursue the same sense of musical adventure that first motivated its creation and continues to evolve with the times, reinventing and reinvigorating itself with the infusion alike. With jazz currently reaching a broader audience than very before,
Verve is a stronger musical and social force than ever, preserving its remarkable legacy while building towards a bright musical future.
TRACK LISTING:
ARTIST TITLE
CD1
Jazz at the Philharmonic Perdido, Pt. 1&2
Charlie Parker/Flip Phillips/Machito No Noise, Pt. 1&2
Slim Gaillard Opera In Vout, Pt. 1&2
Charlie Parker Just Friends
Lester Young I Cover the Waterfront
Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie (with Thelonious Monk) Bloomdido
Coleman Hawkins There's a Small Hotel
Oscar Peterson Debut
Johnny Hodges Castle Rock
Illinois Jacquet Port Of Rico
Billie Holiday You Go To My Head
Roy Eldridge Dale's Wail
Billie Holiday Tenderly
Ben Webster Tenderly
Count Basie/Joe Williams Alright, Okay, You Win
Count Basie April In Paris
Dizzy Gillespie I Can't Get Started
Anita O'Day The Rock And Roll Waltz
Ella Fitzgerald Too Young For The Blues
Gene Krupa Boogie Blues
CD2
Fred Astaire Hello Baby
Ella Fitzgerald
(The End of) A Beautiful Friendship
Ella Fitzgerald Stay There
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong Stars Fell On Alabama
Bing Crosby Mountain Greenery
Ella Fitzgerald Manhattan
Woody Herman I Wonder
Oscar Peterson I've Never Left Your Arms
Ella Fitzgerald It's All Right With Me
Johnny Hodges I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
Buddy Bregman Derek's Blues
Teddy Wilson Sayonara
Oscar Peterson The Golden Striker
Gene Krupa Sing, Sing, Sing, Pt. 1&2
Ella Fitzgerald Stairway To The Stars
Dizzy Gillespie Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac, Pt. 1&2
Mel Torme Frenesi
Louis Bellson Lulu's Back In Town
Billie Holiday Strange Fruit
Louis Armstrong Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
CD3
Oscar Peterson On The Street Where You Live
Ella Fitzgerald Mack The Knife
Terry Gibbs Let's Do It
Gerry Mulligan I'm Gonna Go Fishin', Pt. 1&2
Ella Fitzgerald How High The Moon, Pt. 1&2
Roy Eldridge Bossa Nova
Ella Fitzgerald Mr. Paganini
Ella Fitzgerald Cry Me A River
Jimmy Smith Walk On The Wild Side, Pt. 1&2
Stan Getz Desafinado
Jimmy Smith Ol' Man River
Blossom Dearie Teach Me Tonight
Terry Gibbs The Hippie Twist
Ella Fitzgerald Desafinado
Stan Getz Manha De Carnaval (Morning Of The Carnival)
Jimmy Smith Hobo Flats, Pt. 1&2
Ella Fitzgerald Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home
Stan Getz & Luis Bonfa Sambalero
Bill Evans On Broadway
Kai Winding More
CD4
Bill Evans Theme from The VIPs
Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Smith What'd I Say?
Jimmy Smith Theme From "Any Number Can Win"
Oscar Peterson Hymn To Freedom
Antonio
Carlos Jobim Corcovado
Ella Fitzgerald/Count Basie Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall
Wynton Kelly If That's The Way You Want It
Kai Winding Mondo Cane, #2
Jimmy Smith Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Pt. 1&2
Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto Blowin' In The Wind
Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto The Girl From Ipanema
Ella Fitzgerald Hello, Dolly
Louis Armstrong Makin' Whoopee
Jimmy Smith The Cat
Lalo Schifrin Bachianas Brasileiras, No. 5
Ella Fitzgerald Ringo Beat
Donald Byrd You've Been Talkin' About My Baby
Cal Tjader Soul Sauce
Jimmy Smith Goldfinger, Pt. 1&2
Astrud Gilberto Agua De Beber
CD5
Jimmy Smith Organ Grinder Swing
Kenny Burrell Loie
Ella Fitzgerald/Duke Ellington Imagine My Frustration, Pt. 1&2
Willie Bobo Spanish Grease
Wes Montgomery Goin' Out Of My Head
Jimmy Smith Got My Mojo Workin', Pt. 1&2
Bill Evans Pavanne
Jimmy Smith Hoochie Coochie Man, Pt. 1&2
Wes Montgomery Bumpin' On Sunset
Willie Bobo Sunshine Superman
Wes Montgomery California Dreaming
Astrud Gilberto Dindi
Willie Bobo Evil Ways
Chico O'Farrill Manteca
Jimmy Smith Chain Of Fools, Pt. 1&2
Don Sebesky The Word
Kenny Burrell The Preacher
Lalo Schifrin Agnus Dei
Stan Getz
Communication '72
Diana Krall The Look of Love
www.vervemusicgroup.com
