Well-positioned to be the music gift book of the holiday season, Thames & Hudson’s Verve: The Sound of America (Oct.) offers readers a visual glimpse into the label that was home to legendary artists like Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ella Fitzgerald. “Probably a third of the top 100 jazz albums of all time are Verve albums,” says Thames & Hudson publisher Will Balliett.
Verve hits stores just months before the 70th anniversary of Jazz at the Philharmonic, a groundbreaking series of events produced by Verve founder Norman Granz. The book’s author, jazz aficionado Richard Havers (The Golden Age of Rock ’n’ Roll), sifted through the label’s archives to find the material that best defines the energy and influence of the genre. “Just by serendipity, Verve had a room full of amazing visual material,” says Balliett. “If you’re a jazz fan, it was like the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where you find all the treasure.”
Among the discoveries featured in the book are imagery from some of the label’s classic releases (in seven-, 10-, and 12-inch records), as well as original master tapes, publicity reports, telegrams, contracts, news clippings, found objects from recording sessions, and more.
The history of the label unfolds chronologically in the book, and while the story is told by the visuals, it also stops to address the social impact of jazz at the height of its popularity. “It touches on segregation in America—Verve, a label that was very socially progressive, wouldn’t tour artists to venues that didn’t have integrated audiences,” says Balliett. “It also discusses the first missions to take jazz to Europe and the wider world.”
The 400-page book retails for $75 and features more than a thousand illustrations—including 600 covers—and commentary from some of Verve’s most well-known artists. To promote Verve, Thames & Hudson will collect social media entries and business cards during BEA. One winner will receive a Louis Armstrong boxed set from the label and an autographed copy of the book.
