Produced by Lazarus and Christian Pegand, Give Me the Simple Life was recorded in Paris with Lazarus' working trio of Alain Jean-Marie on piano, Gilles Naturel on bass and Andrea Michelutti on drums. In addition, Biréli Lagrène, the reigning king of gypsy guitarists, the greatest living exponent of Django Reinhardt's legacy today, joins Lazarus on three of the tracks, while drummer Winard Harper substitutes for Michelutti on half of them.