Various – Pure Jazz Encore
Pure Jazz Encore
Various Artists
(Verve – 2002)
by Matthew S. Robinson
Continuing the comprehensive education they introduced with “Pure Jazz,” Verve records has taken another dip into the cream of their collections for this broad and widely-popular second helping. Opening with Nina Simone’s haunting and somewhat ironic “Feeling Good,” the album also vocalizes through the ages from Billie Holiday (“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”) to Diana Krall (“Let’s Face the Music and Dance”). Instrumentals include Duke and Coltrane’s “Sentimental Mood” and “Killer Joe” by The Jazztet (featuring Benny Golson and Art Farmer).
From the “straight” Jazz of Bird’s “Confirmation” and George Shearing’s poppy “Lullaby of Birdland” to the more pop-oriented (and perhaps less authentic) “Linus and Lucy Theme” from Vince Guaraldi and even “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” by teen idol Bobby Darin, “Pure Jazz” casts a wide net, drawing in music fans of diverse and divergent ages and backgrounds into the broad legacy that is (or is not) Jazz.
©2002, M. S. Robinson, ARR
