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Nat King Cole

(1919 – 1965)

Nat King Cole, American musician hailed as one of the best and most influential pianists and small-group leaders of the swing era. Cole attained his greatest commercial success, however, as a vocalist specializing in warm ballads and light swing.

Cole was born in Montgomery Alabama but grew up in Chicago, where, by age 12, he sang and played organ in the church where his father was pastor. He formed his first jazz group, the Royal Dukes, five years later. In 1937, after touring with a Black musical revue, he began playing in jazz clubs in Los Angeles. There he formed the King Cole Trio (originally King Cole and His Swingsters), with guitarist Oscar Moore (later replaced by Irving Ashby) and bassist Wesley Prince (later replaced by Johnny Miller). The trio specialized in swing music with a delicate touch in that they did not employ a drummer; also unique were the voicings of piano and guitar, often juxtaposed to sound like a single instrument. An influence on jazz pianists such as Oscar Peterson, Cole was known for a compact, syncopated piano style with clean, spare, melodic phrases.

Cole’s popularity led him to become the first African American to host a network variety program, The Nat King Cole Show, which debuted on NBC television in 1956. Cole had greater success with concert performances during the late 1950s and early ’60s and twice toured with his own vaudeville-style reviews, The Merry World of Nat King Cole (1961) and Sights and Sounds (1963). Cole’s repertoire is some of the most memorable music of that era. Mostly recorded at the Capital building in Los Angeles where the image by Chuck was made.

The prejudices of the era in which Cole lived hindered his potential for even greater stardom. His talents extended beyond singing and piano playing: he excelled as a relaxed and humorous stage personality, and he was also a capable actor, evidenced by his performances in the films Istanbul (1957), China Gate (1957), Night of the Quarter Moon (1959), and Cat Ballou (1965) and portrayed blues legend W.C. Handy in St. Louis Blues (1958). His daughter Natalie was also a popular singer who achieved her greatest chart success in 1991 with “Unforgettable,” an electronically created duet with her late father.

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