Paul Desmond - Easy Living / Speakers Corner

Why should you buy this LP? 1. Because of its super sound? Of course! 2. Because Paul Desmond and Jim Hall are playing? Naturally! 3. For "Easy Living"? Surely one of the best numbers

in one of the most multifaceted versions! 4. Because you missed out on the first release in 1966? Well, don’t make the same mistake in 2018!

Not everyone wants to purchase all Victor recordings by Paul Desmond and Jim Hall with umpteen alternate takes in a voluminous CD Box, to listen to it all, and to find it just wonderful to show off on the

record shelf. The eight numbers on "Easy Living" constitute the height of Desmond’s career anyway after he had at last managed to take his leave from Dave Brubeck’s group. And the change from purely

chordal playing and single notes from Jim Hall is more airy and more inspiring than the meaty piano clusters of his former boss. And don’t forget either that half of the Modern Jazz Quartet, namely the bassist

Percy Heath and the drummer Connie Kay, deliver an exquisite skeletal structure over which the musicians can improvise brilliantly.

LPs are, and remain, unbeatable, both as regards sound and feel. And happily they are also a safe investment – maybe not all, but "Easy Living" with Paul Desmond and Jim Hall most definitely!

Paul Desmond (as); Jim Hall (g); Eugene Wright, Gene Cherico, Percy Heath (b); Connie Kay (dr) Recording: June 1963, July and September 1964, June 1965 at RCA Studio, New York City

Production: George Avakian

Title

Side One

1. When Joanna Loved Me

2. That Old Feeling

3. Polka Dots And Moonbeams

4. Here's That Rainy Day

Side Two

1. Easy Living

2. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face

3. Bewitched

4. Blues For Fun