Vintage Verve [Remaster]

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Verve Music Group -- and its Universal Music Group parent company, the most notorious of the big companies that seem to rely on reissues (as of 2006 Universal continued to dig more and more into its labels' catalogs with nary a new release in the bunch) -- selected these 12 tunes from a poll taken of independent and big-box retailers like Virgin, Tower, and the like as well as some stray voters from the biz. The music ranges from bebop to new thing jazz with a large emphasis on vocals by singers such as Dinah Washington ("Cry Me a River"), Sarah Vaughan ("Misty"), Ella Fitzgerald ("It Don't Mean a Thing..."), Nina Simone ("I Put a Spell on You"), Louis Armstrong ("What a Wonderful World"), Billie Holiday ("Ain't Misbehavin'"), and Joao Gilberto with Stan Getz ("The Girl from Ipanema"). There are also some fine instrumental performances from the Bill Evans Trio ("Autumn Leaves"), John Coltrane ("My Favorite Things" from the Newport '63 disc), Charlie Parker with Strings ("April in Paris"), the Oliver Nelson Orchestra ("Stolen Moments"), and Wes Montgomery ("Tequila"). All of this stuff has been readily available for years, but it does make for a truly pleasant listen. ~ Thom Jurek

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