Featured Album
- JAN 1, 1960
- 19 Songs
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1959
- The Extraordinary (Deluxe Edition) · 2014
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1955
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1958
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1960
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1960
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1960
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1960
- The Christmas Song (Expanded Edition) · 1960
- Christmas Top Hits · 1960
Essential Albums
- This 1957 album was Cole's last outing as the leader of a small jazz combo. His cool, swinging piano lines are the epitome of class. As a singer, his phrasing couldn't be more winningly economical on tunes like the dreamy, bittersweet "Blame It on My Youth" and the saucy "Don't Let It Go to Your Head." But he's not afraid to break a sweat, either, trading feverish, bop-informed licks with violin demon Stuff Smith on the percolating "I Know That You Know."
- Known early on as a master jazz pianist, Cole remade himself as one of the premier romantic crooners of his time. On this 1954 compilation we hear his rich baritone with orchestral backing that, despite its lushness, still manages to convey intimacy—Cole practically sings into your ear. The album leans heavily on Cole’s early ’50s work with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle, most famously “Mona Lisa” and the title track, two definitive ballads of the era. The most offbeat twist is Riddle’s 1954 treatment of the Dimitri Tiomkin movie theme “Hajji Baba,” which Cole makes his own, delivering Ned Washington’s campily exotic lyrics (“Come to my tent, oh my beloved”).
Artist Playlists
- The jazz icon’s rich tenor rings in the yuletide season.
- Lean back and relax with some of their mellowest cuts.
- 2021
About Nat "King" Cole
Nat "King" Cole made it all sound easy. That was the art of Nathaniel Adams Coles, born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1919—he hid the sweat. His family joined the Great Migration of Black Southerners who moved North, in his case to Chicago, where Cole got a jazz combo together. Influenced by the light, punchy swing of pianist Earl Hines, Cole pioneered a cocktail trio sound that was fun and urbane. On '40s recordings like "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "Sweet Lorraine," and "It's Only a Paper Moon," he emerged as a jaunty (sometimes) singer and first-rate instrumentalist. If he'd stopped there, he'd still be celebrated today. Good thing he kept going. With zero vocal training, he discovered that his conversational baritone loved a ballad and audiences loved his singing. He transitioned to a pop-jazz sound, featuring big bands and orchestras. This was night-on-the-town Rat Pack music; songs like "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," "Smile," and "When I Fall In Love" were almost courtly in their manners. An early convert to Latin rhythms, Cole learned enough Spanish to become an international icon in the '50s. Cole died in 1965, but he was on the charts again in 1991, duetting with his daughter Natalie on "Unforgettable" and a Grammy-crushing tribute album.
- BORN
- March 17, 1919
- GENRE
- Jazz