The music of jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass will come alive in Cambridge with “Take Love Easy,” a collaborative tribute performance by guitarist Sam Miltich and singer Charmin Michelle on Saturday, Feb. 4. 
The concert is the next “On Stage With” event in the Richard G. Hardy Performing Arts Center at Cambridge-Isanti High School, which sees a small audience seated on the stage with the performers for a more intimate concert experience. General admission tickets are $15, and the show begins at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at hardycenter.com, by calling 763-689-6189 or by visiting the Community Education Office, at 625B Main St. N., Cambridge. Tickets will also be available at the ticket booth beginning at 6:30 p.m. the night of the event.
Both Miltich and Michelle have extensive experience in the Minnesota jazz scene, together and apart.
Miltich has performed and toured with the Robin Nolan Trio, the Hot Club of San Francisco and his own groups the Clearwater Hot Club and the Big Dipper Jazz Band.
He was initially drawn into jazz the subgenre he calls either hot club music or jazz manouche, pioneered by the French Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt and typically featuring acoustic guitars, upright bass and violin, and sometimes clarinet.
Michelle has performed with pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kirk Lightsey and saxophonists Harry Allen and Grant Stewart, among others, and she has also sung with Miltich’s group the Clearwater Hot Club.
Miltich and Michelle have performed as Ella & Joe in the past, but not too extensively. Their tribute to the two musicians is inspired by a series of duet albums the two did in the 1970s and 1980s. Working in Pass’ style from those recordings is somewhat of a departure from Miltich’s usual playing, but one he said still feels natural for him.
“I’m essentially playing the role of a whole band,” Miltich said. “It’s a straight-ahead jazz approach.”
The duo will also play some original music written for the same guitar and voice setup as the Fitzgerald and Pass pieces. For Miltich, performing the music Pass and Fitzgerald played together is a way to nod back to jazz’s history and give the music a sense of narrative context.
“It’s an interesting story that can be told along with the music,” Miltich said. “I sort of related to his (Pass’) story because his family was from steel mill towns in the Rust Belt, and I’m from the Iron Range.”
Miltich has performed with various ensemble set-ups in the Hardy Center before, including one other “On Stage With” performance. He likes having the audience right there with him.
“It’s like giving a concert in your house or something,” he said. “It’s very intimate.”
For more information on Sam Miltich and Charmin Michelle, visit their websites, sammiltich.com and charmsongs.com. For more information on the Richard G. Hardy Performing Arts Center’s Premier Performances series, visit c-ischools.org/school/community-ed/richard-g-hardy-performing-arts-center.