It's Nice to Be with You

Accompanied by bassist Jimmy Woode and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair, Jim Hall played effortlessly; and he was swinging. Like Humair, many people viewed him as the greatest guitarist alive. Hall had already played with Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Paul Desmond and Sonny Rollins, and was the first American jazz musician to play Bossa Nova pieces. Yet he had recorded only one album under his own name. Producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt wanted to change that. He had known Hall since they had met in Rio de Janeiro, and greatly admired the modest guitarist. The albums title piece, Its Nice To Be With You, is Jims wifes composition. Hall also recorded Up, Up, And Away, a piece then a worldwide pop hit. Pop musicians are writing good pieces nowadays, the guitar legend commended. Bassist Jim Woode lived mainly in Europe from 1960 until his death in 2005. Drummer Daniel Humair remains one of Europes leading jazz musicians.