Verve Jazz

Vol. 18 of the Verve Jazz Masters series features Sarah Vaughan for the most part singing bop and swinging pretty hard. Though not known at all as a Verve artist (only At Mister Kelly's), these tracks were mined from her dates in the '50s and '60s for Mercury/EmArcy and Roulette. Of the 16 selections, there's a good mix of small-group sessions with such notables as trumpeter Clifford Brown and saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and big bands led by Quincy Jones or members of the Count Basie Orchestra. Nary a string section is heard until the closer, "Misty." You get pure swing, not the sappy Sassy, during "Cherokee," "Shulie a Bop," "Lullaby of Birdland," "Just One of Those Things" (from the At Mister Kelly's date), and "Sassy's Blues," among others. This is a very good compilation to find and keep.

Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and pianist Oscar Peterson are the stars of this delightful collection of jazz recordings supervised by producer Norman Granz over an almost exactly 12-month period extending from 1953 to 1954. Granz's marvelous knack for bringing together excellent musicians resulted in the combined presence of trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, trombonist Bill Harris, clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, tenor saxophonists Ben Webster and Flip Phillips, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Buddy Rich. The combination of musical minds is extraordinary, and Hamp's amazing wavelength is dependably positive and uplifting.

This is an excellent survey of her mid-'60s work, with 16 tracks spanning 1964 to 1966 that find Simone at her most versatile and assured. Quite a range is encompassed here: traditional folk ("Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair"), R&B (her jazzy rendition of "I Put a Spell on You"), Jacques Brel ("Ne Me Quitte Pas"), Billie Holiday ("Strange Fruit"), the Gershwins ("I Loves You, Porgy"), Rodgers & Hart ("Little Girl Blue"), and modern jazz (Nat Adderley's "Work Song"). Other highlights are the mesmerizing "See Line Woman" and the original version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," which was a hit for the Animals shortly afterwards. On the two original compositions, "Four Women" and "Mississippi Goddam," Simone confronts racism in a head-on fashion rare for the time…

The Jazz Club series is an attractive addition to the Verve catalogue. With it's modern design and popular choice of repertoire, the Jazz Club is not only opened for Jazz fans, but for everyone that loves good music.

This compilation in the Verve Jazz in Paris reissue series gathers three separate recording sessions originally issued on various French EP discs. The first four tracks were recorded for the movie Les Tricheurs, with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Gus Johnson backing various horn soloists. The title track is a blues, composed on the spot, featuring Stan Getz and Roy Eldridge; the trumpeter easily wins the solo battle as Getz is a bit sloppy with several reed squeaks during his chance. Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Eldridge each are individually featured performing originals with the rhythm section, with Gillespie taking top honors for his driving bop tune "Mic's Jump"…