Verve

Bill Evans - The Complete Bill Evans On Verve (1997) {18 CD Set Verve 314 527 953-2 rec 1962-1969}
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© 1962-69, 1997 Verve / PolyGram | 314 527 953-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano

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.

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Tide (1970) {Verve 543 500-2 rel 2000}
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© 1970, 2000 A&M Records / Verve / UMG | 543 500-2 | Verve By Request Series
Jazz / Bossa Nova / Brazilian Traditions / Latin Jazz / MPB

An incredible record – from the first off-key note to the last! The album's filled with some wonderfully moody LA studio sounds, arranged by Deodato, and a has a great swirling mix of sound that weaves around Jobim's lofty guitar and piano beautifully – complex, but still with the airy sense of space that Antonio Carlos first brought to his music in the 60s. From the very first note, you can feel the strange magic of Jobim and Deodato at work – as the album appears to be smooth and mellow, yet has a strangely unsettling undertone that keeps us coming back after all these years!

Billie Holiday - The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve 1945-1959 (1992) {10CD Set Verve–PolyGram 517 658-2}
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© 1945-59, 1992 Verve / PolyGram | 517 658-2
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Swing / Classic Female Blues / Traditional Pop

This is a rather incredible collection: ten CDs enclosed in a tight black box that includes every one of the recordings Verve owns of Billie Holiday, not only the many studio recordings of 1952-57 (which feature Lady Day joined by such jazz all-stars as trumpeters Charlie Shavers and Harry "Sweets" Edison, altoist Benny Carter, and the tenors of Flip Phillips, Paul Quinichette and Ben Webster). Also included are prime performances at Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts in 1945-1947, an enjoyable European gig from 1954, her "comeback" Carnegie Hall concert of 1956, Holiday's rather sad final studio album from 1959, and even lengthy tapes from two informal rehearsals. It's a perfect purchase for the true Billie Holiday fanatic.

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve (1997) {3CD Verve rec 1956-1957}
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© 1956-57, 1997 Verve / PolyGram | 314 537 284-2
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Standards / Traditional Pop

Here is an instruction manual for singers. Phrasing, intonation, breath control, taste, musicianship, restraint, humor; it's all here. What with "jazz singing" wandering all over the lot as the century staggers to a close, let's hope that The Complete (what dimensions that phrase has in this context) Ella and Louis will be used for serious course work, and not just by beginners. The package contains everything from the LPs Ella & Louis, Ella and Louis Again and Porgy and Bess, plus two tracks of Fitzgerald sitting in with Armstrong's band at the Hollywood Bowl. The contrast between her polished perfection and his rough perfection is delicious. Armstrong's trumpet playing, nearing its last full burst of glory, is as moving as his voice.The songs are by the cream of American song writers, including Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, Arlen, Ronnell, Duke and Kern. They have never been sung better.

John Coltrane - Kulu Sé Mama (1965) {Impulse!-Verve Originals rel 2009}
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© 1965, 2009 Impulse! / Verve / UMG | Verve Originals Series | 0602517920347 | LP A-9106
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modal Music / Saxophone

One of our favorite albums ever from John Coltrane – but a record that's sometimes eclipsed by the genius of A Love Supreme! The feel here is very similar to that one – long tracks that introduce a new mode of searching, spiritual jazz for the 60s – one that's performed by a core quintet with Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones – but which also features added players on the side-long title track! "Kulu Se Mama" is a tremendously bold statement in music – one that features a bit of spiritual vocals from Juno Lewis, plus added bass clarinet from Donald Garrett, tenor from Pharoah Sanders, and drums from Frank Butler. The two other tracks – "Vigil" and "Welcome" – are performed by a quartet, but are still equally great!

Charlie Parker - Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker On Verve (1946-1954) {2005 10CD Box Set Verve-Universal 983 3382}
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© 1949-54, 2005 Verve / Universal Music Italia Srl | 983 3382
Jazz / Bop / Small Group / Big Band / Saxophone

As a leader, Charlie Parker recorded for Savoy and Dial during 1945-1948 and then for Verve exclusively (at least in the studios) during 1949-1954. This remarkable ten-CD box set, which adds quite a bit of material to an earlier ten-LP set, contains all of these recordings plus Bird's earlier appearances with Jazz at the Philharmonic. The JATP jams are highlighted by Parker's perfect solo on "Oh Lady Be Good," a ferocious improvisation on "The Closer," and a solo on "Embraceable You" that tops his more famous studio recording. In addition, this box has all of the "Bird and Strings" sides, his meetings with Machito's Cuban orchestra, the 1950 session with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, small-group dates (including a 1951 meeting with Miles Davis), odd encounters with voices and studio bands, the famous "Jam Blues" with fellow altoists Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, and his final recordings, a set of Cole Porter tunes. The fact-filled 34-page booklet is also indispensable. Highly recommended.