Verve Announces ‘Always Hip: Verve at 70’ Anniversary Album

Verve Records will release Always Hip: Verve at 70 on November 20, bringing its year-long 70th anniversary celebration to a close. Produced by Steve Jordan, the collection assembles musicians from several generations to revisit compositions previously recorded for the label and will be available digitally, on LP and on CD.

The first single, “Always,” features trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, pianist Monty Alexander, bassist Ron Carter and Jordan performing the Irving Berlin composition. Jordan also plays throughout the album, whose participants include Buster Williams, Jabali Billy Hart, Rufus Reid and Lenny White, alongside Carter and Alexander.

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, the project draws on music originally recorded on Verve by Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Willie Bobo and Cal Tjader. The selections connect the anniversary release to several strands of the label’s recording history, with the assembled musicians offering new interpretations of that repertoire.

“Sometimes you want to hear a certain sound,” Jordan said about the project. “One that makes you feel good. One that makes you reflect. One that makes you move. ‘Always Hip’ does all of that.”

Jordan brings experience as both a drummer and a Grammy Award-winning producer to the sessions. His collaborators across his career have included Keith Richards, John Mayer, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow and Neil Young. For this collection, he takes both roles, overseeing the recording and joining the players as they explored music associated with Verve’s catalog.

The full tracklist
1. “We See” (Thelonious Monk) — 6:06
Buster Williams, Steve Wilson, Stefon Harris, George Colligan, Lenny White

2. “Organ Grinder Swing” (Irving Mills / Mitchell Parish / Will Hudson) — 3:14
Mike LeDonne, Mark Whitfield, Billy Hart

3. “Always” (Irving Berlin) — 5:25
Jeremy Pelt, Monty Alexander, Ron Carter, Steve Jordan

4. “Soul Sauce (Gauchi Guaro)” (Dizzy Gillespie / Chano Pozo) — 6:31
Sammy Figueroa, Felipe Fournier, Bill O’Connell, James Genus, Steve Jordan, Marcos Torres

5. “A Wonderful Guy” (Rodgers & Hammerstein) — 9:17
Monte Croft, Bill O’Connell, Rufus Reid, Nasheet Waits

6. “Spanish Grease” (Willie Bobo / Melvin Lastie) — 4:22
Sammy Figueroa, Felipe Fournier, Antoine Roney, Clifton Anderson, Monte Croft, Bill O’Connell, James Genus, Steve Jordan, Marcos Torres

7. “Very Early” (Bill Evans / Carol Hall) — 6:53
Bill O’Connell, Rufus Reid, Nasheet Waits

8. “Sumphin’” (Dizzy Gillespie) — 6:46
Clifton Anderson, Antoine Roney, Bill O’Connell, James Genus, Steve Jordan

9. “Bumpin’ On Sunset” (Wes Montgomery) — 5:43
Mark Whitfield, Mike LeDonne, James Genus, Steve Jordan, Sammy Figueroa

10. “Song of the Outcasts” (Buster Williams) — 10:02
Buster Williams, Steve Wilson, Stefon Harris, George Colligan, Lenny White

Order Always Hip: Verve at 70 here.