Essential stuff for any serious Jazz fan or even if one is just getting into it, no better place to start actually. 

Norman Granz, with his Jazz At The Philarmonic tours gets a great run down as all the artists signed to the label with Ella Fitzgerald getting quite a bit of attention as Norman chased  and chased to get her signed on Verve and then all those Songbook albums she recorded for the label. Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie. Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie and the list goes on with artists that were signed to the label.

There is a chapter on each, starting with Norman Granz the label's founder after a brief rundown on early Jazz.

I always felt that Verve although most likely the greatest Jazz Label mainly played it safe by usually signing established artists but that is not to say they did not make great Jazz and so many Classic albums from the genre are included which the book includes of course.

Above is a picture of albums included in the book..................stunning stuff.

Fabulous Book and a great read.