Winner of the 2008 Juno Award for Best Jazz Album with Make Someone Happy, vocalist Sophie Milman’s credentials read a bit like a fairy tale—emigrating from her native Russia to Israel as a young girl, uprooted again when her family moved to Canada in her teens, earning a Juno nomination for her first release (2006) in her early 20s, selling out the famed Massey Hall in Toronto...  Said Don Heckman (LA Times), "Not the next Ella or Sarah but the first Sophie Milman...she is one of a kind." With her third release, Take Love Easy, Milman further solidifies her “one of a kind” approach to a diverse repertoire that finds her as convincing covering Duke Ellington and Cole Porter as Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt. Her first track, a dusky “Beautiful Love” (initially, beautifully with support only from bassist Kieran Overs), immediately highlights the qualities that set Milman apart from most of her generation—a superb sense of time, storyteller’s knack for emotive phrasing, a voice that uniquely blends a bit of fellow Canadian Diana Krall, a touch of Norah Jones, a few ounces of Billie Holiday and mostly Sophie Milman. Choice of instrumentation from track to track gives this set a special sheen. With bass and drums, Sophie introduces the title song, soon joined by guitarist Rob Piltch, then PJ Perry’s soprano sax. It swings, it honors the lyric. Alto sax from guest Wes Anderson flavors a sultry “I Concentrate on You,” while Anderson and a fleet of horns add a big band pulse to “Day In, Day Out.” (And perhaps fronting a big band is a future project to anticipate from Milman?) 

Pop covers benefit from the Milman touch: Sophie adds a hip coolness to Joni Mitchell’s “Be Cool,” ambience highlighted by Piltch, Paul Shrofel on Rhodes and Michael Davidson on vibraphone. Additional horns again play supporting roles on “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” but it’s Milman’s wistful tone and heart-piercing phrasing that render this track one of the album’s most engaging. Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” gets a smoldering retooling such that one imagines a single release would top the pop charts. Simplicity of arrangement focuses Sophie’s storytelling (and scatting) skills in Paul Simon’s “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover,” arranged by drummer Mark McLean, buoyed by Shrofel on Rhodes and Piltch on guitar. Pianist Paul Shrofel’s contributions to these tracks deserves special mention, as well as his original “That Is Love,” featuring the core quintet. Milman’s clean articulation, true pitch, and swinging delivery sell every note.  

And while love is “for sale” throughout the recording, Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale,” with this highly syncopated, percussion-driven arrangement, readily sells Sophie Milman, a showcase for her “many wares” and the talents of her cohorts on Take Love Easy. This makes three winners in three years.  The fairy tale continues. 

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