Tal Farlow, was an innovative self-taught jazz guitarist who influenced generations of guitarists following in his footsteps. Although some of his peak years as a recording artist occurred during his association with Verve between 1954 and 1959, relatively few of the tracks were available for decades until the release of this comprehensive Mosaic box set. The music is consistently brilliant, as the leader's solos seem to evolve effortlessly, often finding fresh ground in the many standards and classic jazz compositions performed in this set. Aside from the three opening tracks from Farlow's days as a member of vibraphonist Red Norvo's trio, the guitarist is the leader.
To celebrate what would have been the late great Louis Armstrong’s 116th birthday today, Verve Records/UMe have released the digital collection, The Complete Decca Singles 1935-1946. A prequel of sorts to The Complete Decca Singles 1949-1958 issued at the end of 2016, this new comprehensive collection not only spans many of Pop’s singles and B-sides during that fruitful decade with Decca, but brings with it many of Armstrong’s tracks to the digital format for the very first time.
All eight of the albums Wes Montgomery issued on Verve in the mid-'60s (including the two he did with organist Jimmy Smith) are on this limited-edition, five-CD box set. With the addition of 20 bonus tracks (none previously unreleased, some of them alternate takes or overdubbed versions) and a 76-page booklet that includes readable reproductions of the original LP sleeves, it's the definitive compilation of his work for the label. By its very size, of course, its appeal might be limited to completists and serious collectors.
THE COMPLETE BILL EVANS ON VERVE is an 18-disc, 269-track box set featuring every track that Bill Evans recorded for Verve between 1962 and 1969, including 98 previously-unreleased tracks. It includes a 160-page, full-color book. THE COMPLETE BILL EVANS ON VERVE was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package - Boxed and for Best Historical Album. The 18 CDs in this exhaustive set provide a comprehensive picture of Bill Evans from 1962 to 1969, a period when the pianist was both consolidating his fame and sometimes taking his music into untested waters, from unaccompanied piano to symphony orchestra. His work with multitracked solo piano, originally released as Conversations with Myself and the later Further Conversations with Myself, was the most remarkable new format for his introspective music. It gave Evans a way to be all the pianists he could be at once–combining densely chordal, harmonically oblique parts with surprising, rhythmic punctuation and darting, exploratory runs.
An idiosyncratic, girlish voice, snappy, flawless deliverance, and an irrepressible sense of light-hearted swing made Blossom Dearie one of the most pleasant singers of the vocal era. Her tenderness and glisten ensured that she'd never treat standards as the well-worn songs they often appeared in less competent hands. And though her reputation was made on record with a string of excellent albums for Verve during the '50s, she remained a draw with Manhattan cabaret audiences long into the new millennium.
Eleven albums has recorded Till Brönner for the Verve label. With 'Best Of The Verve Years' is now the artist's first best-collection. With his wonderful trumpet sound, Till Brönner has earned countless fans as well as two gold records, a Grammy nomination, innumerable jazz awards and many other successes.