Cole, Nat King (1919-1965),
American pianist and singer, one of the most advanced jazz
pianists of the 1940s
and a leading popular singer of the 1950s and 1960s. Born Nathaniel Adams
Coles in
Montgomery, Alabama,
he grew up in Chicago, where pianist Earl Hines was a major influence.
Cole formed
his first trio with guitarist
Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince in Los Angeles in 1937, where, during
an
extended stay at the
Sewanee Inn, he first began singing to vary the musical pace.
The trio (with Johnny
Miller replacing Wesley Prince on bass) achieved its first major success
in 1944 with
“Straighten Up and Fly
Right.” In 1946 Cole's recording of singer Mel Torme's “The Christmas Song”
became a hit,
and in 1948 Cole achieved
even greater success with “Nature Boy,” which sold more than a million
copies soon
after its release. His
other hits include “Route 66” (1946), “Unforgettable” (1950), and “Mona
Lisa” (1950), which
won an Academy Award
in 1950 as the theme song for the movie Captain Carey, U.S.A. Although
he achieved tremendous popularity as a singer, Cole received little recognition
for his innovations as a pianist. As early as
1940 he regularly employed
advanced chord voicings and harmonic substitutions that “bebop” innovators
such as saxophonist Charlie Parker were just beginning to discover. Cole's
melodic style can be seen as an important link
between swing and bebop.
His 1956 album After Midnight showcases his creative abilities as a jazz
pianist.