Jazz Rock Verve

Anytime a beloved young artist dies tragically, record companies scramble for leftovers that fans can treasure as a keepsake of a life and career cut short. Porter' s followers will love this tribute because it features a handful of previously unreleased recordings of the saxman in the live arena, where the tight studio-controlled funk of his four recordings was let loose into an improvisational setting. Anyone acquainted with Porter only through the easygoing soprano tracks played on smooth jazz radio will realize from these tracks – recorded at the 1996 North Sea Jazz Festival, not long before his drowning death in Thailand – that while the horn master chose a career in pop, he was also an exceptional, inventive jazz performer.

Hank Jones - Upon Reflection, The Music Of Thad Jones (1993) {Verve–Gitanes 314514898-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 389 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 44 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1993 Verve / Gitanes | 314 514 898-2
Jazz / Bop / Post Bop / Piano

This recording is dedicated to the memory and compositions of the late trumpeter/composer Thad Jones, younger brother to pianist Hank Jones, older brother to drummer Elvin Jones. Out of print in the U.S. 1994 release from the Jazz piano great finds Hank, alongside George Mraz and brother Elvin, paying tribute to his younger brother, the late trumpeter Thad Jones. 10 tracks including 'Thad's Pad', 'Lady Luck' and 'Mean What You Say'.

The eight CDs that make up this collection document the second rise of Count Basie's big band. The second band had been created at the urging of Billy Eckstine, who convinced Basie that even though the era of the large jazz-swing orchestra – an era he was an architect of – was by all appearances over, he could make a real go of it with his brand of blues and swing.

Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles, Vol. 4: 1950-1955 (2017) {4CD Set, Verve Reissues, Digital Only Issue}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Digital Download -> 1.30 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 774 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1950-55, 2017 Decca / Verve Reissues / UMG | Digital Only Issue
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Bop / Standards / Swing

Come on folks, this is ELLA FITZGERALD we're talking about. Ella from her early years, recording for Decca Records. Oh the songs on this collection! Oh the memories! Every single song is fabulous and if you like music, you need to own this collection. Not just Jazz, not just Swing, not just Pop - but all Ella, all GREAT. Highly recommended.

Count Basie - Basie In London (1956) {Verve 833 805-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 276 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 149 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 23 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956 Verve / Universal | 833 805-2
Jazz / Big Band / Swing / Mainstream Jazz

First off, this album is inaccurately titled. Though the cover photo shows Count Basie with two lavishly dressed Brits, the recording was made in its entirety from a 1956 concert in Gothenburg, Sweden. As far as the music, it represents the Basie band in a classic time period, playing many well-known, long-lasting, and beloved tunes that everybody will recognize. It's also a band loaded with legendary Basie sidemen like Freddie Green, Sonny Payne, Thad Jones, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Joe Newman, Marshall Royal, Charlie Fowlkes, and on three tracks, Joe Williams.

A new box set, collecting four albums released between 1983 and 1986, is a fascinating look at the early stages of an underrated UK post-punk act.

Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band - Season of Changes (2008) [Verve]
MP3 @320 -> 112 MB
FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 261 MB
Full HQ Artwork Scans -> 29 MB
© 2008 Verve | 001069602
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Fusion

The musical range of this group is vast, as are the influences that inform its individual members, but as a unit they sound like no one else. Their long-term working relationship has paid off handsomely here; these tunes are all bravely voiced and beautifully articulated compositions of modern jazz. (The word "modern" should be translated to mean "in the 2000s era" rather than as an empty signifier that denotes type or subgenre in this context.) These selections have been molded by many different styles of music from the American vernacular: from folk and gospel to pop and soul standards, from country and blues to the spiritual jazz of Coltrane and Strata East, and even rock. But there is no mistaking what Seasons of Changes is. Something this ambitious yet earthy, so sophisticated, yet accessible to virtually any set of ears, could only be jazz.