| Take Love Easy | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Recorded | August 28, 1973 | |||
| Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 37:38 | |||
| Label | Pablo | |||
| Producer | Norman Granz | |||
| Ella Fitzgerald chronology | ||||
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| Joe Pass chronology | ||||
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Take Love Easy is an album by the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald with guitarist Joe Pass, released in 1974.
The album is the first of four studio albums that Ella recorded with Pass, and it was the latest in a long line of duets for Ella with just one other instrument. Ella had previously recorded two albums with just piano accompianment, and prior to this, one had previously heard her with just a guitar on 'Wait Till You See Her' from the Rodgers & Hart Songbook (1956), on several of the intros to the Riddle arrangements from the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959), and a few tracks on her 1957 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook ('Solitude', 'In a Sentimental Mood', and 'Azure'. The compilation The First Lady of Song includes a couple of more previously unreleased duets, "Detour Ahead" and "Angel Eyes".)
Ella and Pass didn't only record in a studio environment however, Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall (1973) and Digital III at Montreux (1979) are both live recordings.
The three later albums that Ella recorded with Pass were Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976), Speak Love (1983), and Easy Living (1986). In addition, Pass featured prominently on Fitzgerald's 1981 album of songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ella Abraça Jobim .
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [3] |
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Ella Sings Broadway is a 1963 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by the American bandleader Marty Paich. Ella had previously recorded with Paich and his more familiar Dek-tette on the 1957 album Ella Swings Lightly, and was to record with him again on her 1967 album Whisper Not. Shortly before the sessions for Ella Sings Broadway , Ella had recorded two singles with Marty Paich, the Antonio Carlos Jobim song 'Desafinado' and a Bossa Nova version of the jazz standard 'Stardust'.
Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by an orchestra arranged by Nelson Riddle.
Ella Abraça Jobim or Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook is a 1981 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, devoted to the songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim.
Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur is a 1967 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the big band of Duke Ellington.
Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert is a live album by Ella Fitzgerald, with a jazz trio led by Lou Levy, and also featuring the Oscar Peterson trio. Recorded in 1958, it was released thirty years later.
Ella at Juan-les-Pins is a 1964 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a quartet led by Roy Eldridge on trumpet with the pianist Tommy Flanagan, Gus Johnson on drums and Bill Yancey on bass. Val Valentin was the recording engineer, Cover photo by Jean-Pierre Leloir. The original 1964 album featured 12 songs, highlights of two concerts Fitzgerald performed on the 28 and 29 of July 1964 at the fifth annual Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes in Juan-les-Pins, France. In 2002 Verve re-issued this album, including all the performances from both evenings. Ella is in fine voice, sounding very aggressive at times, as her voice leaps and growls. The listener also gets to hear Ella improvise a musical tribute to the crickets who are also in fine voice throughout the performance.
Montreux '75 is a 1975 live album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a trio led by the pianist Tommy Flanagan.
Ella in London is a 1974 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a quartet led by the pianist Tommy Flanagan.
Ella à Nice is a 1982 album recorded live in 1971 by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a jazz trio led by the pianist Tommy Flanagan. This recording remained unreleased until the early 1980s.
Ella in Budapest is a live album recorded in 1970 by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the Tommy Flanagan trio, sound engineering by Jozsef Dudas. The album remained unreleased until 1999 when it was issued by Pablo Records.
Fitzgerald and Pass...Again is a 1976 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by jazz guitarist Joe Pass, the second of four duet albums they recorded together after Take Love Easy (1973).
Easy Living is a 1986 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by guitarist Joe Pass.
Fine and Mellow is an album by Ella Fitzgerald, released in 1979. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 1980.
Nice Work If You Can Get It is a 1983 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and André Previn, with accompaniment from the double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.
The Ella Fitzgerald Song Books were a series of eight studio albums released in irregular intervals between 1956 and 1964, recorded by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, supported by a variety of orchestras, big bands, and small jazz combos.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was produced by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald's manager and the founder of Verve Records. Fifty-nine songs were recorded in the span of eight months in 1959.
We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song is a 2007 tribute album to Ella Fitzgerald produced by Phil Ramone for Verve Records, released to mark the 90th anniversary of her birth. The "all-star" list of featured vocalists is backed for most part by an orchestra led by Rob Mounsey. The album contains the first release of a duet of Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder, who joined her on stage with her small band at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1977.
Oscar Peterson in Russia is a 1974 live album by Oscar Peterson, accompanied by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, recorded in the Soviet Union.
James David Hughart is a jazz and pop bass player.
