A Jazz Romance - A Night In With Verve
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| Release Date: |
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| Label: |
Universal |
| Rating: |
4.5 |
Description: Reaching deep into its cavernous vaults, Verve has extracted a rich bountiful of moody and sentimental jazz, perfect for those long, expectant evenings or those equally long, rain-filled days. Nicely packaged with nostalgic, sepia-toned photographs on both the box and each individual CD,
A Jazz Romance contains nearly 60 songs guaranteed to set a distinctly low- keyed mood, equal parts sultry and sad. The vast majority of the material is from bygone days of the '40s and '50s, with the more recent entries retaining that flavor. The four discs are entitled
In Dreams,
Ever,
Believing, and
Always. They're rather interchangeable, sharing many of the same artists and each having as many vocals as instrumentals, yet each does have some distinction from the others.
In Dreams features the great saxophones of Johnny Hodges on "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and Ben Webster on "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning."
Ever has marvelous versions of "My Man" by Sarah Vaughn and "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Dexter Gordon.
Believing contains a contemporaneous version of "Some Other Time" by guitarist Mark Whitfield and Diana Krall, along with an outstanding example of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's versatility on "Alfie."
Always, perhaps the dreamiest of the lot, has Chet Baker on "Alone Together," Illinois Jacquet on "Star Dust," and Stan Getz doing "Thanks for the Memories." Concentrating exclusively on the romantic side of jazz, this compilation contains an abundance of subtle, emotional music offering great listening in addition to setting the all-important mood.
--Wally Shoup
Tracklist of A Jazz Romance - A Night In With Verve
Reviews:
An absolutely stunning collection
Ballads, I believe, are the real test of musicianship. And this collection has a judicious and delicious selection which is perhaps the best balanced one I know featuring the all time great moments - Clifford Brown's treatment of Rodgers and Harts Where or When will bring tears to your eyes - as well as quirky less known works - If the Moon Turns Green sung by Billy Holiday - the "old", Ben Webster, along with the "new" Mark Whitfield. Please don't think this is or should be "background" music. You only have to listen to Bill Evans playing with Paul Motian and Gary Peacock on CD1 to realise this is a collection of some of the greatest moments in 20th Century music, regardless of genre.
Jazz novice opinion
I am a complete novice when it comes to Jazz. Don't know much about it except that I enjoy it. I have to say this set of CD's is a great mood-setter. Definitely softens the atmosphere and relaxes the body and soul. Great music for a night of serenity and romance
Pretty Good
This selection contains a bunch of great cuts and a few that I could live without, especially the Blossom Dearie tracks. However, as opposed to most collections with weak tracks, this one flows along so well that it is a pleasure to put all four CDS on and let it play in the background on a quiet evening "In." I prefer the companion 4 CD set called "A Night Out with Verve." I would recommend "Out" over "In."
