Probably the world’s most famous jazz label, Verve grew out of one man’s passion for the genre.  Impresario Norman Granz came by his reputation honestly. He treated all his performing artists with great respect, paying them top wages and providing first class accommodations and dining while on tour, regardless of race or ethnicity. He was also an innovator - certainly with his musical productions and also with his recording company interests.  The genesis of Verve's catalog goes back to July 2, 1944 - the first performance of Granz's 'Jazz At The Philharmonic', (or JATP as it soon became known). These live jazz concerts, (recorded from their inception), often featured ad-hoc groups of players with very disparate backgrounds and spontaneous jam sessions. Jazz At The Philharmonic lifted jazz out of the clubs and made it accessible to a much larger public audience. When Granz began releasing his JATP recordings, he became something akin to the patron saint of jazz.

In 1956, with a long career in the recording industry already behind him, Granz established Verve Records, consolidating several labels he had already set up for specific jazz audiences, most notably Clef Records, which was used to  distribute recordings of the JATP concerts and tours, (following the expiration of a previous distribution agreement with Mercury Records). By this time, his fair dealing and business savvy had allowed Granz to sign up an impressive coterie of ‘A’ list jazz players, like Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Ben Webster and the entire Count Basie band.  Ella Fitzgerald moved over from Decca after 20 years with that label, joining a somewhat eclectic roster of vocalists already under contract to Granz, that included Anita O’Day, Mel Tormé, Joe Williams and Blossom Dearie.

Verve was hip to technical advances  in the recording industry too, getting on board with stereo recording in 1957 – several years prior to the mass distribution of stereo LPs. In 1960, Norman Granz sold Verve to MGM, but his roster of artists remained and has been continuously expanded and renewed  by  a succession of new producers continuing through several  ownership changes.

Now, past the 75^th anniversary of the origins of the famous label, this is a look back at how they perceived themselves ‘at 50’, when this commemorative set was issued, (1994).