Adam Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/14/how-verve-records-got-gutted.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Wow. Just like if Carl Jefferson saw how Concord's product changed, he might have been unhappy. (Gorelick? come on!!) Granted there's more wide ranging jazz that there's ever been on Concord, but I see where Gioia is coming from in that angle definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 (edited) Other than Diana Krall, who else is being issued on Verve nowadays? Is Verve primarily a re-issue label now? PS - I am referring to jazz, of course. Donny Osmond and Barry Manilow don't count! Edited March 16, 2015 by GA Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 I recorded a podcast for my personal blog with my feelings on the matter. Sorry about the sloppy edits trying to eliminate dead air, and I used "outstanding" too much. http://insidethespangalang.tumblr.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Most Verve stuff is reissued by Hip-o Select right? I am not sure much of the stuff issued in the 90's and early '00's is in print if any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 The Daily Beast Ted Gioia How Verve Records Got Gutted The record label of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald just got swallowed by a hip-hop business… and no one even noticed! The announcement could hardly have been hidden any better. Slipping the news into the second paragraph of a press release about a management change, Universal Music disclosed last week that most of the day-to-day responsibility for the once great Verve label has been absorbed by its hip-hop and pop operations. Interscope Geffen A&M, the home of Eminem and Lady Gaga, “is now responsible for Verve’s sales, marketing and film and TV licensing.” What a strange turn of events! Interscope, founded in 1989 by Jimmy Iovine, first made its mark in the music world as the in-your-face label of gangsta rappers—although later corporate moves have broadened its catalog to include a range of pop and rock acts. Verve, in contrast, started out as a posh home for jazz stars who played the classic songs of George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and other craftsman tunesmiths of the Golden Age of America popular music. Even the most optimistic jazz fan must cringe at the prospects of a shotgun marriage between these different organizations with their contrasting traditions. Full article http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/14/how-verve-records-got-gutted.html?via=desktop&source=twitter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 seems like the label has been dead quite awhile. I don't have much of their catalog beyond the late '60s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 never knew david fosters running verve-- and now don was is head of Blue Note--- david foster. don was......i can totally call the next president of World Pacific........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 wait; is he or was he head of Blue Note? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Don Was is the head of BN. Ferguson was in Spirit, so that has to count for something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) never knew david fosters running verve-- and now don was is head of Blue Note--- david foster. don was......i can totally call the next president of World Pacific........ Would work for me. Spirit made a lot of great music, and Jo Jo Gunne a lot of good music,. as opposed to Toto or Was Not Was! Edited March 18, 2015 by felser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 What about all that Gitanes stuff, who will have dibs on that now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 The Daily Beast Ted Gioia How Verve Records Got Gutted The record label of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald just got swallowed by a hip-hop business and no one even noticed! The announcement could hardly have been hidden any better. Slipping the news into the second paragraph of a press release about a management change, Universal Music disclosed last week that most of the day-to-day responsibility for the once great Verve label has been absorbed by its hip-hop and pop operations. Interscope Geffen A&M, the home of Eminem and Lady Gaga, is now responsible for Verves sales, marketing and film and TV licensing. What a strange turn of events! Interscope, founded in 1989 by Jimmy Iovine, first made its mark in the music world as the in-your-face label of gangsta rappersalthough later corporate moves have broadened its catalog to include a range of pop and rock acts. Verve, in contrast, started out as a posh home for jazz stars who played the classic songs of George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and other craftsman tunesmiths of the Golden Age of America popular music. Even the most optimistic jazz fan must cringe at the prospects of a shotgun marriage between these different organizations with their contrasting traditions. Full article http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/14/how-verve-records-got-gutted.html?via=desktop&source=twitter That is truly sad. A music label devoted to the soul of music being managed by a label that focuses on what can be hardly called music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) You mean managed by a label that focuses on music that actually has commercial potential and makes a profit? Edited March 20, 2015 by Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Any record company wants to make a profit. Record companies focusing only on commercial potential and making a profit is a good part of what's wrong with the record business today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 The movie industry focuses primarily on movies with commercial potential, the record industry focuses primarily on music with commercial potential. Since these are businesses that seems to me to be their primary reason for existing. Independent record labels and independent film studios are where most of the "art" comes from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Any enterprises that focus primarily on "commercial potential" hold next to no interest for me. And why "art" in parentheses? Do you work in the movie industry or record industry? Or do you want to? I only ask because it seems as if you seem to spend a fair bit of time defending them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'm not defending them, I'm just stating the reality since all the major film studios and record labels are just part of huge corporate conglomerates. Sure, I wish it was still Metro Goldwyn Mayer instead of "Sony Pictures", but that's just not the reality any longer. Bemoaning what once was isn't going to change the present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Now that I think about it, I don't think I've purchased a record on the Verve label that was recorded after Creed Taylor left. Can anyone think of a jazz one that is any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Now that I think about it, I don't think I've purchased a record on the Verve label that was recorded after Creed Taylor left. Can anyone think of a jazz one that is any good? Released on or through Verve, good-to-excellent (or better) records by: Joe Henderson Shirley Horn Helen Merrill Abbey Lincoln Charlie Haden (both with and apart from Quartet West) Ornette Coleman Herbie Hancock Bobby Hutcherson Wayne Shorter J.J. Johnson Rodney Kendrick Jackie McLean McCoy Tyner Dewey Redman/Cecil Taylor/Elvin Jones Randy Weston All from the 1990s on. People might have good reasons for not buying some (or even all) of these, but "there wasn't anything worth considering" ain't gonna be one of them, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmce Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Verve, like many major labels in the 1990s, had a quite stellar jazz line, as Jim's list proves. There is a lot to enjoy and explore, especially since all of this music went OOP very quickly and has been rather lost to time. RCA, A&M, Blue Note, Ryko, Columbia. Hell, I'll make a thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Exactly. And what I meant by stuff being released "through" Verve, Verve had licensing agreements with Birdology & Gitane and who else, that allowed them to release product to the American market at less cost than if they produced it themselves. Blue Note had the same kind of thing with Something Else out of Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcam_44 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Nicholas Payton released some fantastic work on Verve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Now that I think about it, I don't think I've purchased a record on the Verve label that was recorded after Creed Taylor left. Can anyone think of a jazz one that is any good? Released on or through Verve, good-to-excellent (or better) records by: Joe Henderson Shirley Horn Helen Merrill Abbey Lincoln Charlie Haden (both with and apart from Quartet West) Ornette Coleman Herbie Hancock Bobby Hutcherson Wayne Shorter J.J. Johnson Rodney Kendrick Jackie McLean McCoy Tyner Dewey Redman/Cecil Taylor/Elvin Jones Randy Weston All from the 1990s on. People might have good reasons for not buying some (or even all) of these, but "there wasn't anything worth considering" ain't gonna be one of them, Johnny Griffin - Chicago, New York, Paris (1995) Stanton Moore - Flyin' The Koop (2002) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) LOL! Of course! I forgot about the many '90s Verve releases I picked up via BMG! Edited March 20, 2015 by GA Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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