The Clef/Verve Labels: The MGM era

Book excerpt: The Clef/Verve discography is another magnificent achievement for which the jazz world owes Michel Ruppli and Greenwood Press an enormous debt of gratitude. The information contained in it should now be available to writers, researchers, and collectors. Jazztimes Through his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts and recordings and the Verve/Clef recordings of the 1940s and 1950s, Norman Granz had a significant impact in bringing jazz before a wide public and helping to sustain the careers of some of the most famous musical artists of the time. The first volume of the Clef/Verve discography provides comprehensive listings of recordings made or issued under the Clef, Verve, and subsidiary labels between 1944 and 1961, when Granz owned both labels and conducted recording sessions. It features many classic performances by Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, and many other great names in jazz. Volume II, which is devoted to sessions made on the Verve label following its purchase by MGM in 1961 until the last sessions in 1973, includes Jazz Bossa Nova, folk music, and rock and pop groups such as Stan Getz, Wes Montgomery, and the Mothers of Invention.