Verve Remixed, Vol. 3

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 2005)
• Original Release Date: April 5, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B0007PALF2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,353 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

• This is item 3 in The Verve Remixed Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It's an idea that never should've worked in the first place: Verve classics remixed by today's hottest DJs and producers. Yet here's the third installment in the successful series and quality control remains high. Granted, there are a few tracks on each compilation that don't work as well as others and Verve Remixed 3 is no exception. The Postal Service take on Nina Simone's "Little Girl Blue," for instance, makes for a pleasing listen, but sounds too much like the former (the Album Leaf does a better job at staying out of Simone's way). Adam Freeland's "Fever" and Max Sedgley's "Peter Gunn," however, get the balance right. Both songs have been updated for the dancefloor, but Sarah Vaughn's exquisite vocals remain front and center. Then there's Lyrics Born with Jimmy Smith's "Stay Loose," which keeps Smith's groovy organ work in the foreground, but makes a funky track funkier yet. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
Since its debut in 2002, Verve Remixed has paired some of the world's most adventurous DJs and producers with some of the best jazz music in history. The pioneering series has achieved the rare feat of becoming both a critical and commercial success, culling the esteemed catalog of Verve Records and tapping into the creative visions of an influential generation of beat-makers. Verve Remixed 3 continues the series' mission of shaping jazz into vital contemporary music, this time with a new lineup of all-star beat-makers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Decide Which Camp You're In Before You Buy, September 23, 2005

By	Scott K "scottk" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

One thing that you the potential buyer need to decide before you buy this album is how much reverence you hold for the original versions of these songs. If you feel that the originals are nearly holy and should be left untouched, then for God's sake, don't buy this album. You'll only hear blasphemy.

If however you are like me and have both a deep love for jazz as well as modern electronica, then give this album a try. Its reinterpretation of the original melds the two genres often with fantastic results. I have played this CD over and over again and each time find new and deeper layers. Most importantly it had renewed my love affair with the original versions.

Why not give it a try?

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Mystique, April 24, 2005

By	Mars Velvet (Green Tree, Blue Earth...Deep Space) - See all my reviews

This series is a wave of "classic meets modern" with a touch of tomorrow. Vintage jazz meets modern beats of electronica.
VERVE 3 is the best in this series as one reviewer observed. The tracks that caught my attention were:

"Yesterdays" (Junior Boys remix) by Billie Holiday. This version is airy with metallic sounds rendering the voice into an ethereal whisper. Beautiful.

"Peter Gunn" (Max Sedgley remix) by Sarah Vaughn. This classic Mancini lounge hit gets a fresh rework of electronic layering without or rather unable to cover up Sarah's teasing vocals.

"Stay Loose" (Lyrics Born remix) by Jimmy Smith freaks out with the original wild vocals mixed with organ keys and keyboards jumping in with the brass! Let me get my electric bongos!

"Little Girl Blue" (Postal Service remix) by Nina Simone. This album opener blends 80s synth with handclaps and the far off swoon of Nina Simone's voice. Very elegantly done.

"Just One of Those Things" (Brazillian Girls remix) by Blossom Dearie. The Cole Porter tune gets a rework by the Brazilian Girls (I got turned on to this group by Technicolor Dreamer, a specialist in dance mixtures and electronica compilations).

Blossom Dearie's bell like voice may sound familiar to non-jazz listeners....... she sang "Unpack Your Adjectives" & "Figure Eight" for Schoolhouse Rock in 1970s. (Most of the Schoolhouse singers came from the world of jazz.)

Whether you like vintage sounds or modern vibes... this CD will interest or introduce you to both genres. Enjoy!

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hit-and-miss but Still a Worthwhile Project, April 21, 2005

By	B. Niedt (Cherry Hill, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the third release of the Verve Remixed series, in which an assortment of pop artists and DJ's get to raid the copious Verve jazz archives (mostly music from the 1950's and 1960's), and redefine them for the contemporary, dance-oriented listener. For the most part, the results have been interesting and successful, though at times I have the same reaction that I do to a "colorized" version of a classic black-and-white film. (Thank God that fad has passed.) As with the previous volumes, this is a mixed bag of styles and degrees of success. The big difference is that this time out, the re-mixers are more alt-rock and hip-hop types, rather than from the dance and electronica camps. Also, this collection is heavy on the "jazz diva" material, using two tracks each from Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan, as well as songs by Astrid Gilberto, Dinah Washington and others. Interestingly enough, two of the most successful updates come from indie-rock favorites The Postal Service (Simone's "Little Girl Blue") and Danger Mouse (Washington's "Baby, Did You Hear?"). Both significantly rework the originals, but remain respectful to the sources. The others run the spectrum from worshipful to almost sacrilegious, so to speak: Bent's mix of Holiday's "Speak Low" is a reverent treatment framed by updated instrumentation. At the other end of the scale, Adam Freeland's version of Sarah Vaughan's "Fever" is speeded up and deconstructed with little if any recognition of the original. There are other highlights, though, like RSL's salsa-spicing of Anita O'Day's "Sing, Sing, Sing", and RJD2's take on Gilberto's "The Gentle Rain", preserving a fragile vocal within a slow piano groove. Overall, it is a good listen, though I strongly recommend, as with the other two volumes, that you also pick up "Verve Unmixed 3", which contains the original versions of all these songs and is available at a bargain price. It's fun to compare and contrast.