August’s five Mondays lean into the deeper, groovier side of the Verve vault — from Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s jazz-funk to George Benson’s early soul-jazz, with Freddie Hubbard’s hard bop, a rare Shelly Manne drum summit, and Art Farmer’s orchestral flugelhorn rounding out a late-summer month built for the room after dark.
Each session plays through our audiophile hi-fi system. The Verve 70 cocktail is available all evening. Kissa Kissa opens at 6.
This Month on the Turntable
Five records. Five Mondays. Each one played on vinyl the way it was meant to be heard.
Roy Ayers was the vibraphonist who took jazz somewhere it had never quite gone — out of the club and onto the dance floor, into soul and funk and eventually the bloodstream of hip-hop, where he became one of the most sampled musicians who ever lived. He named his band Ubiquity because he wanted the music to be everywhere at once, and for a long stretch of the 1970s it very nearly was.
He’s Coming, recorded in 1972, is the record where that vision came into focus — a loose, soulful, groove-driven set anchored by “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby,” which lands a little differently a few blocks from Franklin Avenue. With Harry Whitaker on electric piano, Sonny Fortune on saxophone, and a young Billy Cobham among the drummers, it’s jazz-funk at its warmest and most human. The Verve Vault reissue is out now on vinyl. August 3 is a groove worth sinking into.
Before George Benson became a Grammy-sweeping pop star — before “Breezin'” and “This Masquerade” made him a household name — he was one of the sharpest young guitarists in jazz, a prodigy raised on the organ-combo circuit and clearly bound for something bigger. Giblet Gravy, cut in 1968, catches him right at that hinge: still a soul-jazz guitarist at heart, but playing with a fluency and swing that already hinted at the crossover to come.
The rhythm section alone tells the story — Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Cobham on drums — with brass charts arranged by Tom McIntosh giving Benson room to stretch. This is Benson before he sang a note, and it’s a joy. The Verve Vault reissue streets August 14, which makes our August 10 session a genuine pre-release early listen — a chance to hear it on vinyl before it reaches shelves. Reserve early for this one.
Freddie Hubbard was, alongside Miles Davis, the most influential trumpet voice of his generation — a player of enormous range and fire who came up fast through Art Blakey‘s Jazz Messengers and a run of essential Blue Note dates before he’d turned twenty-five. By 1962 he was ready to lead on his own terms.
The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard, recorded that July at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio and released in early 1963, was his Impulse! debut and the first record built entirely around his own writing and arranging. A stacked sextet — Curtis Fuller on trombone, John Gilmore on tenor, Tommy Flanagan on piano — moves from a blazing “Caravan” to the brooding “The 7th Day” with total command. The Verve Acoustic Sounds reissue, pressed from the original analog tapes, is newly out this summer. August 17 is hard bop at full flame.
Shelly Manne was a founding father of West Coast jazz — a drummer of taste and wit who played on hundreds of sessions, scored films, and ran his own Los Angeles club, Shelly’s Manne-Hole. He was known for listening as much as swinging, which is exactly the quality that makes this record so special.
2, 3, 4, recorded in New York in 1962, is an intergenerational summit built around shifting group sizes — a duo, trios, quartets, hence the title. Its centerpiece is a small miracle: Coleman Hawkins, the man who invented the tenor saxophone as a solo instrument, sitting down at the piano for the only recorded moment of his career, trading phrases with Manne on “Me and Some Drums.” With Hank Jones and Eddie Costa rounding out the group, it’s a drummer’s album full of quiet surprises. The Verve Acoustic Sounds reissue is out now. August 24 rewards close listening.
Art Farmer had one of the warmest tones in all of jazz — and by the early 1960s he’d made an unusual choice, largely trading the trumpet for the mellower, rounder flugelhorn as his primary instrument. It’s a sound built for late nights and slow reveals, and few players ever drew more from it.
Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra, recorded in 1962 and released the following year on Mercury, sets that flugelhorn against lush big-band charts written by Oliver Nelson, fresh off The Blues and the Abstract Truth. A murderers’ row of New York talent — Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Jim Hall — fills out the orchestra behind him, turning standards and a gorgeous “Naima” into showcases for Farmer’s tone. The Verve Vault reissue restores it to vinyl. August 31 closes the month in full, glowing color.
What Is Verve Mondays?
Verve Mondays is a year-long weekly listening event series at Kissa Kissa in partnership with Verve Records, celebrating the legendary label’s 70th anniversary. Every Monday from April through December, a different Verve reissue becomes the evening’s centerpiece — played on vinyl, through our audiophile hi-fi system, in Brooklyn’s only traditional jazz kissa. 39 Mondays. 39 reissues. One historic series.
The Verve 70 — an exclusive Monday-night-only signature cocktail (Song Cai floral gin, Prosecco, housemade sage lavender syrup, lemon) — is available all evening. Pair it with our full menu for the complete experience.
Each month’s lineup will be announced here and on our Instagram in advance. Read the full series announcement for the complete story behind the partnership.
Verve Mondays Continue Every Monday in August
667 Franklin Avenue · Crown Heights, Brooklyn
No cover. No reservations required but always encouraged.
