VERVE RECORDS: THE SOUND OF AMERICA / VARIOUS Vinyl LP

Expected: 8/21/26

As an independent record producer going back to the early 1940s, Norman Granz started building a personal network of record companies – disc by disc, artist by artist, innovation by innovation – that grew into a tsunami by the time he sold Verve Records at the end of 1960. It remains a feat unmatched to this day.

This 4-LP box set celebrates the fascinating spectrum of recordings made during the Norman Granz era of Verve Records. It includes vocal tracks by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday; Charlie Parker with strings; a raucous live jam session; Beatnik poetry by Jack Kerouac and stand-up comedy.

Tracks:

Side 1:

1. Jazz at the Philharmonic — Blues
2. Coleman Hawkins — Picasso
3. Oscar Peterson — Tenderly
4. Bud Powell — Like Someone in Love

Side 2:

1. Count Basie and His Orchestra — New Basie Blues
2. Johnny Hodges — Castle Rock
3. Andre's All Stars — Con Poco Coco
4. Lionel Hampton and Stan Getz — Louise

LP 2

Side 1:

1. Lester Young and Teddy Wilson — Taking a Chance on Love
2. The JATP Quintet — Easy Living
3. Benny Carter — Flamingo
4. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong — You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)
5. Art Tatum — I'll Never Be the Same

Side 2:

1. Roy Eldridge — Dale's Wail
2. Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt — On the Sunny Side of the Stree
3. Lionel Hampton — That Old Black Magic, Part 1
4. The Modern Jazz Quartet — D & E Blues

LP 3

Side 1:

1. Charlie Parker — Laura
2. Jam Session #1 — Ballad Medley: All the Things You Are / Dearly Beloved / The Nearness of You / I'll Get By / Everything Happens to Me / The Man I Love / What's New? / Someone to Watch Over Me / Isn't It Romantic

Side 2:

1. Jack Kerouac — The Subterraneans
2. Mort Sahl — The Future Lies Ahead — excerpt
3. Jonathan Winters — Football Game
4. Shelley Berman — Department Store

LP 4

Side 1:

1. Count Basie and Joe Williams — Thou Swell
2. Spike Jones and His City Slickers — Cocktails for Two
3. Rose Murphy — You Were Meant for Me
4. Buddy Rich — Can't We Be Friends?
5. Woody Herman — I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
6. Margaret Whiting — Why Was I Born?

Side 2:

1. Mel Tormé — On the Street Where You Live
2. Anita O'Day — Lullaby of the Leaves
3. Bing Crosby and Buddy Bregman — Blue Room
4. Billie Holiday — I Thought About You
5. Ella Fitzgerald — Chelsea Bridge — rehearsal
6. Fred Astaire — No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)

Label:  Verve