The Piano Style of Nat King Cole [LP]

Performer: Nat King Cole
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Nat "King" Cole (vocal, piano), John Collins (guitar), Willie Smith (alto saxophone), Juan Tizol (valve trombone), George Roberts (bass trombone), Charlie Harris (bass) Lee Young (drums). Reissue Producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded in Hollywood, California, July and August 1955. Includes liner notes by Will Friedwald and Dick Katz. Though it sold very few copies on its initial release, this album featuring Nat "King" Cole pursuing his first love of jazz piano playing is an undiscovered gem in the performer's discography. Accompanied by Nelson Riddle's masterful orchestral arrangements and a big band including sidemen of the caliber of Duke Ellington trombonist Juan Tizol, Cole puts his unique musical stamp on a variety of standards, including "Love Walked In," "Stella By Starlight," "April in Paris," and "Just One of Those Things."

Record Collector (magazine) (p.114) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "An excellent album played with panache and great joy, this LP gives you an idea why Cole was cited as an influence on Oscar Peterson."

One of the seminal performers in 20th-century American music, Nat "King" Cole was a major figure in the development of jazz piano, the stylistic link between early jazz and pop of the sophisticated urban variety that emerged in the '30s, and finally one of the greatest pop singers of his day. Cole was a hugely talented, intensely musical singer, blessed with almost flawless good taste, who became an international superstar capable of appealing to audiences across all boundaries.

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