Night Out With Verve
This bargain-priced four-CD set presents itself as easy, event-based listening, with the CDs individually titled "Wining," "Dining," "Dancing," and "Romancing." A glimpse at the track list and personnel, however, immediately reveals that, much more than "easy listening," it's an extraordinary collection of jazz performances culled from the Verve archives and including material from the label's classic and recent periods, as well as from subsidiary labels.The selection has been made with remarkable thoughtfulness, pulling out tracks that may surprise even veteran listeners.John Coltraneplays "You're a Weaver of Dreams" with theMiles Davisrhythm section in a 1959 session. There's also Miles's 1958 rendition of "Round Midnight" with arrangerMichel LeGrand. And there's a live Paris recording of "Whisper Not" byArt Blakey's Jazz Messengers withLee Morgan. WhenAl Hibblersings "This Love of Mine," he's backed by the perfectlyEllingtonian horns ofJohnny HodgesandBen Webster."Dancing" picks up the tempo and swings with vigor, but the other volumes are almost textbooks on the art of ballad playing, with many of the greatest saxophonists, trumpeters, and vocalists represented, and a healthy sampling of pianists and guitarists as well. Sure, it functions as mood music, but there's none of the usual artificiality or manipulative effects. It's jazz, often of the highest order and filled with a spirit of timeless romance.--Stuart Broomer