The month opens with Elvin Jones playing for the man he had just spent five years behind, and closes with Mel Tormé singing Broadway with a thirteen-piece band. In between: Blossom Dearie at the piano, and an advance spin of the Grant Green soul-jazz record that Verve is putting back in print.
Every record plays on our audiophile hi-fi system. The Verve 70 cocktail is available all evening. Kissa Kissa opens at 5:30.
This Month on the Turntable
Four Mondays, four very different rooms in the same catalog.
Elvin Jones cut this in February 1965, while he was still sitting behind John Coltrane every night. The title says who it is for. Coltrane does not play on it.
What you get instead is Jones leading from the kit with Charlie Mariano on alto, Richard Davis on bass, and his own older brother Hank Jones on piano. Hearing the two Joneses work the same bar is the reason to come. It also puts us in the right frame of mind for the Coltrane centennial nights later in the month.
Blossom Dearie sang in a small, high, almost conversational voice and accompanied herself on piano, which meant she never had to oversell a lyric. Norman Granz signed her to Verve in 1956 and she made six albums for the label in four years.
This is the 1957 one, built around Cole Porter, with Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar and Jo Jones on drums behind her. It is a quiet record that rewards a quiet room, which is roughly the whole idea here.
Grant Green came up through St. Louis blues and R&B bands and played single-note lines so plain and vocal that they cut through anything behind them. He made this one for Verve in 1965, with Harold Vick on tenor, Larry Young on organ and Candido on congas.
It is the most physical record of the month. Young’s organ does most of the harmonic work while Green stays out front, and Candido pushes the whole thing sideways. We are playing it ahead of the Verve Acoustic Sounds reissue, so this is an early listen.
Tormé and arranger Marty Paich had been working together for years by 1960, and this is the record where it pays off. Paich’s Dek-tette gives him thirteen pieces of West Coast brass and reeds to sing against, and the material is all Broadway.
Tormé hated being called the Velvet Fog and spent a career proving he could swing harder than the nickname suggested. Put this on loud and the argument settles itself.
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.
Every Monday in September
667 Franklin Avenue · Crown Heights, Brooklyn
No cover. No reservations required but always encouraged.
