Verve Records: The Sound of America - 4 x Vinyl LP Box Set

2026

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.

LP 1
Side 1:

    Jazz at the Philharmonic — Blues
    Coleman Hawkins — Picasso
    Oscar Peterson — Tenderly
    Bud Powell — Like Someone in Love

Side 2:

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

LP 2
Side 1:

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

Side 2:

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

LP 3
Side 1:

    Charlie Parker — Laura
    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:

    Jack Kerouac — The Subterraneans
    Mort Sahl — The Future Lies Ahead — excerpt
    Jonathan Winters — Football Game
    Shelley Berman — Department Store

LP 4
Side 1:

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

Side 2:

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