[Dixielandjazz] Nat King Cole

[Steve barbone]

Not Dixieland, but surely OKOM. He was a hell of a jazz pianist before he
became a singing star. No doubt many of us loved to listen to him and as
well as watch his TV Show, back in the good old days.

Check your Public TV listings for this show. Maybe on Wednesday night in
your area of the USA.

Cheers,
Steve


Television Review
'The World of Nat King Cole' on PBS's American Masters

NY TIMES By ANITA GATES May 17, 2006

Even for those of us who grew up during the civil rights struggle of the
1960's, it is sometimes startling to be reminded of the outrages.

The first one in "The World of Nat King Cole," an understated but compelling
"American Masters" documentary on PBS tonight, is a newspaper headline about
Cole that reads in part: "Negro Moving to Swank Area."

The second is the story of Cole's being attacked onstage by members of a
white racist group in the middle of a concert in Birmingham, Ala., in 1956.
In black-and-white news film, Cole, who suffered a slight back injury, is
shown smiling and politely telling reporters that he's sure it was just a
one-in-a-million occurrence. But he never went back to Birmingham.

Cole sang his many hits ‹ "When I Fall in Love," "Mona Lisa," "Too Young,"
"Nature Boy" and "Smile," among them ‹ in a husky, gentle voice and at a
supremely relaxed pace. This documentary reflects that pace.

Nathaniel Coles was born in Montgomery, Ala., in 1919, but his father, a
Baptist minister, moved the family to Chicago when Nat was a toddler.
Chicago in the 1920's had a lively music scene, and as a teenager Cole
already had a band. He dropped the last letter of his surname after a
colleague placed a crown on his head one day and started calling him King.

He headed for Los Angeles in the 1930's and played piano in his own jazz
trio. But as Alan Livingston, former president of Capitol Records,
remembers, someone soon said, "You know, Nat, you should be a singer." And
the hit records started coming.

An impressive array of music-world notables praise Cole on camera. Isaac
Hayes is followed by Pat Boone, and Stevie Wonder by Harry Connick Jr.
Others include Tony Bennett, B. B. King, Carlos Santana, Quincy Jones and,
of course, Natalie Cole.

The documentary doesn't mention Cole's income tax problems or go into great
detail about his reported womanizing. But his second wife, Maria, recalls
leaving the children behind ‹ "In those days, a nanny was a nanny" ‹ and
traveling with her husband to fend off sexual temptations. Jack Costanzo, a
onetime member of Cole's jazz trio, recalled that "women were crazy about
Nat King Cole." 

NBC, aware of his enormous popularity, gave him a variety series, "The Nat
King Cole Show," in 1956 but ended it after 13 months because no corporate
sponsor wanted to be associated with it. "Madison Avenue is afraid of the
dark," Cole observed.

A heavy smoker, he died of lung cancer in 1965 at 45.

American Masters: The World of Nat King Cole

On most PBS stations tonight (check local listings).

Susan Lacy, series executive producer; Ian A. Hunt, producer/director; Barry
Schulman, director of cultural and arts programs for Thirteen/WNET New York.
Produced by Double Jab Productions for American Masters.