Easy Living

by Richard S. GinellAs 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, adding two outtakes, "All Through the Night" and "Rude Old Man," when the album was transferred to CD in 1990. These are, however, anything but leftovers; 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. As a near-ideal example of this collaboration at its intuitive peak, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" opens with Hall paraphrasing the tune, and Desmond comes in on the bridge with a perfectly timed rejoinder that sounds as if he's asking a question. "Here's That Rainy Day" is another apt match of a standard to Desmond's sophisticated personality; he is at his dry, jaunty best on the up-tempo "That Old Feeling"; and both have a ball jamming on the blues in Desmond's wry, quick "Blues for Fun." Nothing wrong with the outtakes, either; both are gems, although you will hear one -- just one! -- of Desmond's extremely rare smudged notes on his last entrance of "All Through the Night." Besides mainstays Hall and Connie Kay, three bass players -- Gene Cherico, Gene Wright, and Percy Heath, all no stranger to Desmond sessions -- alternate on these tracks. [The 2001 Japanese reissue doesn't include "All Through the Night" and "Rude Old Man," but has the original LP's cover art and a detailed description of the recording process.]