Easy Living (Paul Desmond album)

Easy Living
Studio album by
Paul Desmond
Released1966
RecordedJune 5, 14 & 25, 1963, July 14 and September 9, 1964 and June 1, 1965
New York City
GenreJazz
Length67:13
LabelRCA Victor LPM 3320
ProducerGeorge Avakian
Paul Desmond chronology
Glad to Be Unhappy
(1964) 		Easy Living
(1966) 		Summertime
(1968)

Easy Living is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond featuring performances recorded between 1963 and 1965 which were released on the RCA Victor label.[1][2][3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [5]
Q Magazine[6]

Allmusic awarded the album 4½ stars stating "As the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall quartet's recording activities gradually came to a halt by 1965, RCA Victor assembled the remains of a number of their later sessions into one last album. These are anything but leftovers, however -- indeed, they constitute the best Desmond/Hall album since Take Ten, more varied in texture and mood, and by and large more inspired in solo content, than Bossa Antigua and Glad to Be Unhappy".[4] Q Magazine called it "Desmond's finest hour" when it was reissued in 1990.[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Paul Desmond except where noted.

  1. "When Joanna Loved Me" (Robert Wells, Jack Segal) - 5:48
  2. "That Old Feeling" (Sammy Fain, Lew Brown) - 5:49
  3. "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) - 5:51
  4. "Here's That Rainy Day" (Van Heusen, Burke) - 5:43
  5. "Easy Living" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin) - 7:08
  6. "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner) - 4:19
  7. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) - 6:25
  8. "Blues for Fun" (Paul Desmond) - 6:28
  9. "Rude Old Man" (Eugene Wright) - 5:42 Bonus track on CD reissue
  10. "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" [alternate take] (Van Huesen, Burke) - 6:13 Bonus track on CD reissue
  11. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" [alternate take] (Rodgers, Hart) - 7:47 Bonus track on CD reissue

Note

  • Recorded Webster Hall on June 5, 1963 (track 3), June 14, 1963 (track 8), June 25, 1963 (track 2) and at RCA Studio A in New York City on July 13, 1964 (track 9), July 14, 1964 (tracks 1 & 10), September 9, 1964 (track 5), September 16, 1964 (track 11) and June 1, 1965 (tracks 4, 6 & 7) .

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Paul Desmond Catalog accessed February 29, 2016
  2. ^ Paul Desmond Discography Part Three: 1960-1969 Archived March 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed February 29, 2016
  3. ^ Berry, S. Jim Hall discography Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 29, 2016
  4. ^ a b Ginell, Richard S.. Easy Living – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  5. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 369. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. ^ a b Glasser, Brian (5 March 1991). "easy living review". Q Magazine. 55: 87.