Various Artists

Verve/UME celebrate the career of a jazz impresario for the ages.  As founder of the Clef, Norgran and Verve labels, Granz helped bring jazz to the masses and launched the careers of many of the genre’s brightest stars.

The 4-CD set includes 44 tracks, some appearing on CD for the first time ever.  The booklet includes new liner notes by Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz For Justice.  On the discs, you’ll find incendiary performances by the likes of Coleman Hawkins with Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Nat “King” Cole, with Les Paul and Illinois Jacquet, Dexter Gordon, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, and Dizzy Gillespie.  Altogether, The Founder shows the lasting impact of Granz’s career and the role he played in the work of a veritable who’s-who of modern jazz.