You may recall that Verve Jazz Ensemble played a benefit concert in Piening Hall almost exactly a year ago. The band recorded the session and found that the performance, acoustics of the Assembly Room, and audio quality were so excellent that they created a full-length live album! The album is available to stream from their website From its beginnings, the Verve Jazz Ensemble has been motivated by a desire to address a common complaint among jazz followers: that too many jazz artists play music to which the mainstream audience can’t relate. As VJE leader and Hartsbrook parent Josh Feldstein puts it, his band strives to appeal “to everyone from people in their twenties who know nothing about bebop to people in their ’80s who grew up in the swing era.” www.verve-jazz.com