Verve Jazz Collection

Verve Records was originally the product of the vision of jazz impressario Norman Granz (1918-2001). He formed the label in 1956 and moved all of the recordings released on his earlier Norgran Records and Clef Records labels to create the new Verve catalog.

Born 25th August, 1925 in Montreal, Canada, Oscar Emmanuel Peterson grew up in Little Burgundy, a predominantly black neighbourhood in greater Quebec. He took up piano and trumpet at age five, quickly becoming adept on both instruments. At seven he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which prevented him from playing the trumpet, he thus concentrated on the piano during this time, practising four to six hours a day. Studying under the Hungarian-born player Paul de Marky - himself a student of virtuoso Istvan Thoman - the young Oscar began learning classical piano but later switched to jazz styles, most notably 'boogie-woogie'. By 1961, with the piano-bass-drums line up now firmly established, the OPT performed a week's residency at The London House, a renowned jazz spot in Chicago. These performances were among the finest the new line-up ever gave, and were released on Verve as four separate albums; The Trio, Something Warm, The Sound Of The Trio and Put On A Happy Face, in '61 and early '62. The following year, Peterson's most commercially successful record Night Train (Verve, 1963), was released, another Trio masterpiece that due to its shorter track times, received considerable radio play.

Jazz pioneer and Hammond Organ s most acclaimed practitioner, Jimmy Smith bridged the gap between soul and jazz, and along with the likes of Ray Charles, forged a sound that appealed to a wide ranging cross-section of music fans during the 50s and 60s. Smith s instrument of choice, the Hammond B-3 with its unique sound and unusual range, adapted well to the genre s flexible leanings, and while Smith was far from the first jazz musician to utilise the organ - legends Count Basie and Fats Waller had both done so in an earlier era - Smith applied the instrument in such a way as to attract the mainstream; he was rewarded for this by becoming one of jazz music s household names and by having his albums fly high on the Billboard Chart in the early 1960s - an unusual feat for a jazz man. This 4CD compilation brings together eight of Jimmy Smith s finest albums, recorded for the Verve label between 1962 and 1964. Including a number of his most successful and critically acclaimed works, all of which originate from this hugely accomplished musician s golden age, this release will serve as both the perfect introduction to Smith s music for the less well versed, and as the ultimate collection for everyone else.

Special FOUR disc collection of some of NEA Jazz Master Lee Konitz's finest recordings. Among the most creative and prolific saxophonists of his generation, Lee Konitz was one of few altoists working in the early fifties who retained a unique style, in an era when Charlie Parker extended a huge influence. An early sideman for Miles Davis, Konitz participated in the legendary Birth Of Cool sessions, while his work with jazz pianist and teacher Lennie Tristano - Lee was a former pupil - remains highly sought. Comprising the musician's eight original albums made for Verve and Atlantic in the late 1950s, this four-disc set features the finest work this estimable sax-man ever produced. With over five hours of extraordinary music, this collection documents the most pivotal phase of what was both a widely celebrated and long standing career. Working as both an ideal introduction to Lee Konitz's best music, and a welcome reminder of his musical prowess, this delightful set will thrill newcomers and seasoned fans alike.

This is part of the Verve Records Ken Burns JAZZ series.

Not all of the installments in the Verve Jazz Masters series contain material originally issued on Verve. Verve Jazz Masters 3, for example, consists of 14 examples drawn from seven Chick Corea LPs released on the Polydor label during the years 1972-1978. Six of these come from Corea's Return to Forever period. The backbone of this collection (tracks one, seven, ten and fourteen) are selections from the highly acclaimed album Light as a Feather (1972) and there are excerpts from Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973) and No Mystery (1975). The other eight titles are traceable to Corea's theatrically costumed and somewhat heavy-handed production albums The Leprechaun (1975), My Spanish Heart (1976), Friends (1978) and The Mad Hatter (1978). This disc will be useful as a vintage jazz fusion sampler or more specifically as an overview of what Chick Corea was up to during the Nixon/Ford/Carter years.

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Not all of the installments in the Verve Jazz Masters series contain material originally issued on Verve. Verve Jazz Masters 3, for example, consists of 14 examples drawn from seven Chick Corea LPs released on the Polydor label during the years 1972-1978. Six of these come from Corea's Return to Forever period. The backbone of this collection (tracks one, seven, ten and fourteen) are selections from the highly acclaimed album Light as a Feather (1972) and there are excerpts from Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973) and No Mystery (1975). The other eight titles are traceable to Corea's theatrically costumed and somewhat heavy-handed production albums The Leprechaun (1975), My Spanish Heart (1976), Friends (1978) and The Mad Hatter (1978). This disc will be useful as a vintage jazz fusion sampler or more specifically as an overview of what Chick Corea was up to during the Nixon/Ford/Carter years

Astrud Gilberto's entry in the nicely appointed Verve Jazz Masters compilation series shows exactly why the Brazilian singer is deserving of such an accolade. In her '60s heyday, Gilberto was often derided by jazz purists for her vibrato-less "desafinado" (deliberately slightly off-pitch) singing style and deadpan, childlike voice. But the diminutive bossa nova star has since been a huge influence on dozens of jazz and pop singers. VERVE JAZZ MASTERS is less of a greatest hits package than it is a smartly balanced retrospective of many of Gilberto's best performances. Her biggest hits, "Call Me" and "Summer Samba," are not included, and her signature tune, "The Girl From Ipanema," is only represented by a live take from a 1964 Carnegie Hall concert. The collection places equal emphasis on Gilberto's bossa nova-style interpretations of jazz standards and on her signature Portuguese-language sambas.