Verve Records Celebrates 70 Years of Jazz Greatness With Always Hip: Verve at 70

For seven decades, Verve Records has helped shape the sound and spirit of jazz, documenting legendary performers while championing music that continues to evolve. The label brings its year-long 70th anniversary celebration to a close with Always Hip: Verve at 70, a new collection that honors its extraordinary musical legacy through a multigenerational gathering of jazz artists. Arriving November 20, 2026, on digital platforms, CD and LP, the album revisits classic compositions from Verve’s storied catalog while giving them fresh life through the distinctive voices of today’s musicians.

Produced by Grammy Award-winning drummer and producer Steve Jordan, who also performs throughout the collection, Always Hip: Verve at 70 is conceived as both a tribute to the label’s history and a living expression of its enduring musical philosophy. The album brings together an impressive roster of jazz veterans, including Ron Carter, Monty Alexander, Buster Williams, Billy Hart, Rufus Reid and Lenny White, alongside a broad ensemble of instrumentalists whose contributions span generations and styles.

The first single, “Always,” features trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, pianist Monty Alexander, bassist Ron Carter and Jordan on drums, interpreting the Irving Berlin composition with the kind of seasoned interplay that anchors the project. The selection offers an inviting introduction to the album’s approach: honoring familiar material without treating it as a museum piece, allowing accomplished musicians to rediscover its possibilities through their own musical personalities.

Jordan’s role as producer is central to the collection’s identity. With a career that reaches far beyond jazz, he has collaborated with artists including Keith Richards, John Mayer, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow and Neil Young. His experience across musical worlds informs a project that values both technical sophistication and the visceral appeal of a great performance.

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

That philosophy comes through in a program that draws from a remarkable cross-section of Verve’s history. The musicians revisit compositions associated with influential figures including Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Willie Bobo and Cal Tjader. Rather than simply reproducing celebrated recordings, the ensemble approaches the material as a living repertoire, allowing familiar melodies and grooves to emerge in new arrangements and fresh combinations of musicians.

The result is a collection that moves comfortably between straight-ahead jazz, organ-driven swing, Latin-inflected rhythms, modern ensemble writing and lyrical small-group interplay. “Organ Grinder Swing” brings the tradition of the swinging organ trio into focus, while “Soul Sauce (Gauchi Guaro)” and “Spanish Grease” draw on the rhythmic vitality that helped make Latin jazz and boogaloo an essential part of Verve’s musical identity.

Elsewhere, the album explores more reflective territory. Bill Evans’ “Very Early” offers an opportunity for lyrical expression, while Buster Williams’ “Song of the Outcasts” provides an expansive closing statement. The inclusion of Williams’ own composition alongside repertoire from celebrated jazz pioneers underscores the collection’s wider purpose: Verve’s legacy is not simply a catalogue of historic recordings, but a continuing conversation between artists, traditions and new ideas.

The recording location adds another important dimension. Recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio, the album connects its contemporary performers with a space deeply embedded in the history of recorded jazz. The studio’s association with landmark sessions makes it a fitting setting for a project that looks backward with respect while keeping its attention firmly on the music being made now.

Since its founding, Verve has been associated with artists and recordings that helped bring jazz to audiences around the world. Its catalog reflects the music’s breadth, from intimate vocal performances and sophisticated piano-led ensembles to adventurous improvisation and rhythmically expansive small groups. Always Hip: Verve at 70 distills that diversity into a single project, celebrating the musicians and compositions that shaped the label while demonstrating how readily their work can speak to new generations.

The album’s ten tracks also emphasize the importance of collaboration. With personnel shifting from one selection to the next, each performance creates a distinct musical setting. Jeremy Pelt’s appearance on “Always,” for example, places him alongside Alexander, Carter and Jordan, while other tracks feature ensembles built around Williams, saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, pianist George Colligan and drummer Lenny White. Across the collection, the changing combinations provide a range of textures without sacrificing the coherence of Jordan’s overall vision.

At 70, Verve’s influence remains audible not only in the recordings it has preserved but also in the way musicians continue to interpret and extend its repertoire. Always Hip: Verve at 70 captures that relationship between history and possibility, presenting jazz standards and modern classics as music that remains open to reinvention. It is a fitting conclusion to the anniversary year: celebratory without being nostalgic, rooted in tradition without standing still.

Always Hip: Verve at 70 will be released November 20, 2026, on digital platforms, CD and LP. The first single, “Always,” featuring Jeremy Pelt, Monty Alexander, Ron Carter and Steve Jordan, is available now.

Full tracklist — Always Hip: Verve at 70

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