PAUL DESMOND — Easy Living ft. JIM HALL (1966-2000) RM | Serie RCA Victor Gold Series | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

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. 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 uptempo "That Old Feeling"; and both have a ball jamming on the blues in Desmond's wry, quick "Blues for Fun." [Some reissues add a pair of outtakes, plus "Rude Old Man."] Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist :
1    When Joanna Loved Me 5:45
Written-By – J. Segal, R. Wells
2    That Old Feeling 5:44
Written-By – L. Brown, S.Fain
3    Polka Dots And Moonbeams 5:49
Written-By – J. V. Heusen, J. Burke
4    Here's That Rainy Day 5:42
Written-By – J. V. Heusen, J. Burke
5    Easy Living 7:05
Written-By – L. Robin, R. Rainger
6    I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face 4:15
Written-By – A. J. Lerner, F. Loewe
7    Bewitched 6:22
Written-By – R. Rogers - L. Hart
8    Blues For Fun 6:22
Written-By – P. Desmond
9    Rude Old Man 5:39
Written-By – E.Wright
10    Polka Dots And Moonbeams (Alternate Take) 6:09
Written-By – J. V. Heusen, J. Burke
11    Bewitched (Alternate Take) 7:46
Written-By – R. Rogers - L. Hart
Credits :
Paul Desmond - Alto Sax
Jim Hall - Guitar
Eugene Wright - Bass (1, 2, 6, 11)
Eugene Cherico - Bass (3, 4, 10)
Percy Heath - Bass (5, 7, 8, 9)
Connie Kay - Drums

PAUL DESMOND — Take Ten (1963-1999) Serie Classic Edition | APE (image+.cue), lossless

Now listeners enter the heart of the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall sessions, a great quartet date with Gene Cherico manning the bass (Gene Wright deputizes on the title track) and MJQ drummer Connie Kay displaying other sides of his personality. Everyone wanted Desmond to come up with a sequel to the monster hit "Take Five"; and so he did, reworking the tune and playfully designating the meter as 10/8. Hence "Take Ten," a worthy sequel with a solo that has a Middle-Eastern feeling akin to Desmond's famous extemporaneous excursion with Brubeck in "Le Souk" back in 1954. It was here that Desmond also unveiled a spin-off of the then-red-hot bossa nova groove that he called "bossa antigua" (a sardonic play-on-words meaning "old thing"), which laid the ground for Desmond's next album and a few more later in the decade. Two of the best examples are his own tunes, the samba-like "El Prince" (named after arranger Bob Prince), an infectious number with on-the-wing solo flights that you can't get out of your head, and the haunting "Embarcadero." Hall now gets plenty of room to stretch out, supported by Kay's gently dropped bombs, and he is the perfect understated swinging foil for the wistful altoist. There is not a single track here that isn't loaded with ingeniously worked out, always melodic ideas. Richard S. Ginell 
Tracklist:
1 Take Ten 3:11
Paul Desmond
2 El Prince 3:38
Paul Desmond
3 Alone Together 6:52
Howard Dietz / Arthur Schwartz
4 Embarcadero 4:07
Paul Desmond
5 Theme from "Black Orpheus" 4:14
Luiz Bonfá / Luigi Creatore / Antônio Maria / Hugo Peretti
6 Nancy (With the Laughing Face) 6:05
James Van Heusen / Phil Silvers
7 Samba de Orfeu 4:29
Luiz Bonfá
8 The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else) 5:37
Isham Jones / Gus Kahn
- Bonus Tracks -
9 Out Of Nowhere 6:54
Written-By – Edward Heyman, Johnny Green
10 Embarcadero (Alternate Take) 4:53
Written-By – Paul Desmond
11 El Prince (Alternate Take) 5:35
Written-By – Paul Desmond
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Paul Desmond
Bass – Eugene Wright (tracks: 1), Gene Cherico (tracks: 2 to 8, 10, 11), George Duvivier (tracks: 9)
Drums – Connie Kay
Guitar – Jim Hall