Coleman Randolph Hawkins, nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. One of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument, as Joachim E. Berendt explained: "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn". Hawkins biographer John Chilton described the prevalent styles of tenor saxophone solos prior to Hawkins as "mooing" and "rubbery belches". Hawkins denied being first and noted his contemporaries Happy Caldwell, Stump Evans, and Prince Robinson, although he was the first to tailor his method of improvisation to the saxophone rather than imitate the techniques of the clarinet. Hawkins' virtuosic, arpeggiated approach to improvisation, with his characteristic rich, emotional, and vibrato-laden tonal style, was the main influence on a generation of tenor players that included Chu Berry, Charlie Barnet, Tex Beneke, Ben Webster, Vido Musso, Herschel Evans, Buddy Tate, and Don Byas, and through them the later tenormen, Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Ike Quebec, Al Sears, Paul Gonsalves, and Lucky Thompson. While Hawkins became known with swing music during the big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s.
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big band, afterward enjoying a long solo career, often in partnership with fellow saxmen Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn.
Benjamin Francis Webster was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
James George Hunter, known professionally as Jimmy Rowles, was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. As a bandleader and accompanist, he explored multiple styles including swing and cool jazz.
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist Ben Webster backed by the Oscar Peterson Trio, featuring rhythm section Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, recorded on November 6, 1959 and released on Verve the following year.
Soulville is a 1957 album by swing tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, recording a session from October 15, 1957, which Webster played with the Oscar Peterson Trio.
The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight is an album by pianist Art Tatum and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, with Red Callender on double bass and Bill Douglass on drums. The 1956 session was originally released in 1958 on Verve Records album produced by Norman Granz as The Art Tatum - Ben Webster Quartet, but Granz re-acquired the masters in the 1970s after the album was allowed to go out of print. He reissued the material as one of a series of eight Group Masterpieces featuring Tatum in collaboration with other artists, also issuing it as part of a boxed set, The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces. The album has been reissued on CD, including a January 31, 1992 version with bonus tracks.
The Individualism of Gil Evans is an album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans originally released on the Verve label in 1964. It features Evans' big band arrangements of five original compositions and compositions by Kurt Weill, Bob Dorough, John Lewis and Willie Dixon.
Alone is a solo piano album by jazz musician Bill Evans, recorded in the fall of 1968 for Verve Records, featuring a particularly notable 14+-minute performance of the jazz standard "Never Let Me Go". Evans contributed notes to the album, including the following statement:
Perhaps the hours of greatest pleasure in my life have come about as a result of the capacity of the piano to be in itself a complete expressive musical medium. In retrospect, I think that these countless hours of aloneness with music unified the directive energy of my life. At those times when I have achieved this sense of oneness while playing alone, the many technical or analytic aspects of the music happened of themselves with positive rightness which always served to remind me that to understand music most profoundly one only has to be listening well. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of mine that despite the fact that I am a professional performer, it is true that I have always preferred playing without an audience. This has nothing to do with my desire to communicate or not, but rather I think just a problem of personal self-consciousness which had to be conquered through discipline and concentration. Yet, to know one is truly alone with one’s instrument and music has always been an attractive and conducive situation for me to find my best playing level. Therefore, what I desired to present in a solo piano recording was especially this unique feeling.
Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson at the Opera House is a 1957 live album by Stan Getz and J. J. Johnson. They were accompanied by the Oscar Peterson trio and Connie Kay on drums. Two different versions of the same material, one recorded in Chicago and one recorded in Los Angeles by the same musicians, were released by Verve under the same title. One recording was mono and the other was stereo.
Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the MetroJazz label, later reissued on Verve Records as Sonny Rollins/Brass - Sonny Rollins/Trio.
The Lionel Hampton Art Tatum Buddy Rich Trio is a 1955 album by Lionel Hampton, Art Tatum and Buddy Rich for Norman Granz' Clef Records. The album has been re-issued on Verve as Tatum Hampton Rich and by Pablo as The Tatum Hampton Rich Trio and as Volume three of Pablo's series, The Tatum Group Masterpieces.
This is the complete discography of the main 12-inch (8000) series of LPs issued by Verve Records, a label founded in 1956 by producer Norman Granz in Los Angeles, California. Alongside new sessions Granz re-released many of the recordings of his earlier labels Clef and Norgran on Verve.
Soul Sauce is an album by Latin jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader recorded in late 1964 and released on the Verve label.
Billy Hart Quartet is an album by American jazz drummer Billy Hart recorded in 2005 and released on the HighNote label.
Gerry Mulligan Meets Stan Getz is an album by American jazz saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Stan Getz featuring performances recorded in 1957 released on the Verve label.
Straight Ahead is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis with the Tommy Flanagan Trio recorded in 1976 and released on the Pablo label.
Music for Loving is an album by American jazz saxophonist Ben Webster with tracks recorded in 1954 and released by Norgran in 1955. The album was reissued in 1957 by Verve as Sophisticated Lady. In 1996 Verve released a double CD compiling the album with another Norgran LP, Music with Feeling, and one by Harry Carney, Harry Carney with Strings which was first released by Clef.
Hawthorne Nights is an album by saxophonist Zoot Sims recorded in 1976 and released by the Pablo label the following year.
Pianist Art Tatum recorded commercially from 1932 until near his death. He recorded nearly 400 titles, if airchecks and informal, private recordings are included. He recorded for Brunswick (1933), Decca (1934–41), Capitol and for the labels associated with Norman Granz (1953–56).
