My Flame Burns Blue

 From time to time someone will write in asking about my musical tastes, and while I’ve done some live concert reviews, I don’t usually go out of my way to weigh in on pop music.

Last month, my local public radio station WNYC hosted a "Must Have Music Contest," so I dutifully wrote about my favorite recording "Easy Living" with Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald.

Without fanfare my piece (see below) was chosen and played on WNYC on December 12, 2006

http://www.wnyc.org/music/playlists/2006/12/06

I listen mainly to jazz guitarists like Grant Green, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell and Jimmy Bruno. But I always love to listen to horn players like Miles, Stan Getz and Trane (especially the albums Ole’ and Coletrane Plays the Blues - where Trane employs George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept to great effect).

Nouvelle Vague is my favorite new band, and I’m always a sucker for anything Elvis Costello does. Robyn Hitchcock is as good as ever, and I had the pleasure of catching him with his terrific band the Venus 3 recently here in NYC. Hitchcock’s latest album "Ole’ Tarantula" is a winner in the Jack Warner definition of the word.

"Easy Living"
By Cole Smithey

Joe Pass’ guitar announces Kurt Weil and Ira Gershwin’s "My Ship" with an arpeggio, played out of time, that Ella Fitzgerald’s iconic voice grabs and sets into tempo with the words, "My ship has sails that are made of silk." That evocative phrase describes the effortless weaving of rhythm and harmony that pull and glide between Joe’s distinctive guitar playing and Ella’s generous voice.

I was referred to "Easy Living" by a San Francisco guitarist, and although I was familiar with Joe’s virtuosic sound and Ella’s nuanced phrasing, nothing I had heard before prepared me for the love affair I would enter into when I first heard the musicians together. It has become a touchstone recording that tunes my ear. I can’t imagine a more intimate yet expressive musical achievement. The duo’s rendition of "Love for Sale" is something that still sends shivers up my spine every time I hear it.

I couldn’t exist without "Easy Living" because of the way it inspires me to savor life with a sense of balance and arrangement. Ella and Joe perform impromptu versions of 15 timeless standards with an infectious naturalness that invites you to share in their own melodious friendship. From "The Days of Wine and Roses" to "Moonlight In Vermont," the songs evince a jazzy approach to romantic communication that consumes all aspects of idealized love and musicality. It’s an acoustically sheer musical pas de deux where every subtlety is taken to heart.