Those who can appreciate the long expansive arc of jazz, and celebrate it for its intrinsic and emotional value – independent of record sales or radio airplay – will revel in the originality and respectful hard bop focus of the latest from the Verve Jazz Ensemble, All In. This is album #8 for the New York-Tri State-rooted ensemble, returning to the septet configuration first road-tested on their #1 radio airplay album from 2018, Connect the Dots. With the return of Alexa Tarantino and Willie Applewhite, the core 5 VJE + 2 leans into an engaging mix of standards, off the well-trod path classics, and two originals by the band’s trumpeter, and album Executive Producer, Tatum Greenblatt. EP Greenblatt describes the record’s jumping off point as “a mid-20th century Americana kind of vibe.” From “a simmering pot” of possible tune choices, he and VJE leader and drummer Josh Feldstein selected the record’s 10 programming choices.The resulting arrangements and compositions are fresh and yet comfortably familiar, like the VJE’s demeanor on stage.