NAT "KING" COLE – 1941-1943 | The Chronogical Classics – 786 (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The King Cole Trio cut a total of 16 sides for the Decca label beginning in December of 1940 (see Nat King Cole 1940-1941 -- Classics 773). Volume Three in the Classics Nat King Cole chronology gathers together perhaps for the first time all of the recordings he made between July 16, 1941 and November 2, 1943. The first eight tracks constitute the second half of Cole's Decca discography. "Hit the Ramp" is a finely crafted instrumental; the trio sings several hip novelties: "Call the Police," "Stop, the Red Light's On," "Are You Fer It?" and a soon-to-be-famous rendition of Skeets Tolbert's "Hit That Jive, Jack." Cole handled the sentimental "This Will Make You Laugh" and his own original blues, "That Ain't Right," soon to be smoothly covered by Slim Gaillard after being transformed into a boisterous duet by Fats Waller and Ada Brown in the 1943 motion picture Stormy Weather. Nathaniel Coles would not record again until July 15, 1942, when he collaborated with bassist Red Callender and tenor saxophonist Lester Young. The recordings that resulted from this unparalleled combination of musical minds were each around five minutes in length; on both the original 12" Philo 78 rpm double-disc album and the subsequent 10" Aladdin LP, the covers read "King Cole Lester Young Red Callender Trio" while the labels on the records identified the group as the "Lester Young Trio." This session resulted in music that belongs among the best jazz that any of the three participants ever performed in a recording studio. It is a prelude to Prez's excellent 1946 trio session with Cole and Buddy Rich. The remainder of this compilation makes available to the public the King Cole trio's little-known recordings made in October 1942 and March and November 1943 for the Excelsior and Premier labels. The next volume in the series opens with this group's very first Capitol recordings, cut at the end of November 1943. arwulf arwulf  
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1943-1944 | The Chronogical Classics – 804 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Volume Four in the Classics Nat King Cole chronology opens with his very first recordings for Capitol, a small West Coast record company established in April 1942 by Johnny Mercer. Although at the time Capitol must have seemed like yet another two-bit enterprise, it was destined to become a major label with which Cole would be associated for the rest of his life. This segment of the chronology, covering a timeline from November 30, 1943 to March 6, 1944, mingles relatively obscure recordings with some of the King Cole Trio's early hits. Certainly Cole's own "Straighten Up and Fly Right" and Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "It's Only a Paper Moon" are still among the most famous performances ever recorded by this group. "Straighten Up" placed them in the same league with Slim Gaillard & His Flat Foot Floogee Boys and The Cats and the Fiddle. It's hard to fathom why Capitol initially rejected Cole's updated treatment of Irving Berlin's amusing opus, "After You Get What You Want You Don't Want It"; this number dates back to the '20s and was originally interpreted by vaudeville acts such as Van and Schenck. The version of "Sweet Lorraine" heard here compares favorably with Cole's initial rendition of December 1940. Those who wish to concentrate upon his amazing abilities as a pianist will appreciate a half-dozen excellent Capitol instrumentals including "Jumpin' at Capitol" (an extension of Fats Waller's frantic stride piano opus "Zonky") and four rare selections recorded for the Disc label in February 1944 by the King Cole Quintette, a one-time-only ensemble comprised of bassist Gene Englund, drummer J.C. Heard, trumpeter Shad Collins and tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet. These extended jams, which were issued on 12" 78 rpm platters allowing for playback time between four and five minutes, are exceptionally satisfying. On the level, this compilation is one of the better installments in the complete recordings of Nat King Cole. It is highly recommended for newcomers and seasoned jazz heads alike. arwulf arwulf  
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1944-1945 | The Chronogical Classics – 861 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Heads up, everybody! Here comes Volume Five in the Classics Nat King Cole chronology. This portion of the timeline runs from November 28, 1944 to May 23, 1945, charting the singing pianist's professional progress in trio sessions for Capitol and V-Disc as well as a date with the Capitol International Jazzmen, an all-star group composed of trumpeter Bill Coleman and reedmen Buster Bailey, Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins backed by rhythm section mates Nat King Cole, Oscar Moore, John Kirby and Max Roach. Two of the four titles recorded by this group on March 30, 1945 have vocals by jazzwoman Kay Starr. During this period the King Cole Trio was at the height of their powers as a unit. While the leader's excellent vocals were now beginning to take center stage, the instrumental tracks, for example "A Pile O' Cole" and "A Trio Grooves in Brooklyn" are solid swinging small band jazz at its finest. The three instrumentals that close out this compilation are similarly rewarding. Two of them, Jacques Offenbach's "Barcarolle" and that gentle air from the 1890s, Edward MacDowell's "To a Wild Rose," were not issued to the public until years later. The third tune recorded that day, a flashy treatment of Maceo Pinkard's "Sweet Georgia Brown," came out on a 78 rpm platter as Capitol 239. It will satisfy anyone looking for a rousing example of how this trio sounded with the throttle wide open. arwulf arwulf
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1945 | The Chronogical Classics – 893 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Volume Six in the meticulously researched Classics Nat King Cole chronology presents all of the Capitol, Sunset and V-Disc recordings he made between May 23 and December 4, 1945. While most of these sessions were trio dates involving guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Johnny Miller, the Sunset engagement brought together trumpeter Charlie Shavers, tenor saxophonist Herbie Haymer, bassist John Simmons and drummer Buddy Rich. Two of the six sides -- parts one and two of "Nat's Kick" -- were issued by the French on their Swing label as by the King Cole Quintet. The other titles were released by Sunset under the name of the Herbie Haymer Quintet. "Black Market Stuff" picks up where Fats Waller and His Rhythm left off in 1941 with "Pantin' in the Panther Room." arwulf arwulf  
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1946 | The Chronogical Classics – 938 (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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NAT "KING" COLE – 1946-1947 | The Chronogical Classics – 1005 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Volume Eight in the Classics Nat King Cole chronology follows his career from August 19, 1946 to July 2, 1947. By the summer of 1946 Cole was an exclusive Capitol recording artist and would remain so until his cigarette-induced death in 1965. As the postwar entertainment industry became increasingly obsessed with star vocalists, Nat King Cole's marvelously mellow voice proved to be intensely marketable. Echoes of Artie Shaw's sweet arrangements and a premonition of '50s production values occurred on what was actually Nat King Cole's second rendition of Mel Tormé's "Christmas Song" (recorded during a blistering August heat wave) with a string quartet plus harp added to a "trio" already enlarged to a quartet by the presence of drummer Jack "The Bear" Parker. Everything else on this compilation is played by the King Cole Trio, now serving more than ever as a backdrop for the voice of the leader. The only instrumentals are Cole's own "In the Cool of the Evening" (which sounds like a cousin to "Poinciana"), a gorgeous rumination on Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and a thrilling jam on Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," presented as a sequel to the King Cole Trio's earlier version recorded for Decca on December 6, 1940. arwulf arwulf  
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1947 | The Chronogical Classics – 1031 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Nine volumes into the Classics Nat King Cole chronology, it is the summer of 1947 and the King Cole Trio is in the process of mutating into pop singer Nat King Cole "at the piano with rhythm accompaniment." Capitol was a growing enterprise, business was brisk and the 23 tracks on this compilation were recorded during a relatively short span of time -- between July 3 and August 13. Irving Berlin had composed "What'll I Do" in 1924; soon after Cole revived it with this recording, Frank Sinatra came out with a cover version on Columbia. Cole's warm and personable rendering of Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer's "Too Marvelous for Words" is as magical and intimate as those recorded for producer Norman Granz by Billie Holiday and Lester Young. A wordless "Rhumba Azul" is an excellent example of the King Cole Trio's cool approach to early modern jazz. The final eight tracks are also entirely instrumental. This is a special treat for those who love the way this man handled the piano. Eventually he would practically abandon the instrument in order to focus entirely upon the art of crooning. arwulf arwulf
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1947, Vol. 2 | The Chronogical Classics – 1062 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Volume Ten in the Classics Nat King Cole chronology documents a busy couple of weeks during the second half of August 1947. On August 15, Nat King Cole recorded three songs intended for a juvenile audience. These were "I Wanna Be a Friend of Yours" (which would have worked well years later as a vehicle for Mr. Rogers), the delightfully nonsensical "Ke Mo Ki," and a very smooth, stylish rendition of "Three Blind Mice" that was briefly disrupted by a "mouse" voice with artificially altered pitch. On the session of August 20, Cole shared the vocals with Johnny Mercer, that resourceful songwriter who had established the Capitol record label in 1942 in collaboration with record store owner Glenn Wallichs and Paramount Pictures producer Buddy DeSylva, himself a songwriter who was publishing hit songs out of Tin Pan Alley as early as 1918. By far the funniest of the Mercer/Cole duets is "Harmony," a lighthearted treatise celebrating the complexities of coexistence, carefully punctuated with deliberately chosen wrong notes. "Save the Bones for Henry Jones ('Cause Henry Don't Eat No Meat)" is also humorous but the lyrics are problematic because bones are patently carnivorous fare, as any vegetarian can and will testify. Since the idea that a vegetarian would eat bones is frankly insulting, some will hear this song as a manifestation of arrogant ignorance, while those who practically live on meat will likely chuckle and think nothing of it. The session that took place on August 22 found the King Cole Trio completely surrounded by a studio orchestra with strings. This was deemed appropriate for material like "Brahms' Lullabye" and the famous "Nature Boy." The session that took place on August 27 was one of the most unusual episodes of Nat King Cole's entire career. Once again performing material intended for prepubescent listeners, Nat King Cole sang a medley of nursery rhymes, rattled off a crazy version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and told a story called "The Three Trees." The weirdest thing about these recordings was a series of sound effects and animal noises generated by Pinto Colvig, the internationally famous voice behind Bozo the Clown! As he headed towards a career as a full-time pop singer with only occasional ties to the jazz world, Cole recorded very few instrumentals. "Laguna Mood" and "Lament in Chords" are the only two wordless performances on this compilation. Note also that what's presented here are the last recordings that guitarist Oscar Moore ever made with the King Cole Trio. arwulf arwulf  
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1947, Vol. 3 | The Chronogical Classics – 1135 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Boasting incredible sound quality and an impressive track listing, 1947, Vol. 3 is a wonderful collection of some of Nat King Cole's finest recordings from the late '40s. Despite his amazing piano playing, Cole's charming voice is the real star of this album. His smooth croon makes overplayed standards like "Dream a Little Dream of Me" feel fresh again. With minimal accompaniment and only one self-penned track (the humorous piano showcase "The Geek"), the arrangements had a lot of potential for failure. But instead these are some excellent renditions of songs that have mostly fallen out of the American public's interest. Anyone looking for a quality collection of Cole's performances, or even a good collection of classic vocal jazz, should definitely try to give this album a listen, as it really is quite good. Bradley Torreano
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NAT "KING" COLE – 1947-1949 | The Chronogical Classics – 1155 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Nat King Cole could charm most listeners by simply singing a few lines from the phone book. His delivery is so intoxicating that even less-than-stellar material doesn't cause so much as a blink of the eye. This is true with Classics' collection of some of his 1947-1949 cuts, where hardly a classic standard or hit is in sight. What one does get, though, is a generous dose of Nat Cole and the trio's slow-riffin' best . While ranging from the ballad perfection of "How Lonely Can You Get" and "Lost April" to svelte blues sides like "My Mother Told Me," Cole, guitarist Irving Ashby, and bassist Johnny Miller show how they perfected the piano trio template forged by the singer's first group with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. The disc also includes two boppish instrumentals: "Leap Here" and "Metronome Riff," featuring Cole with large combos stuffed with likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy DeFranco, Bob Cooper, Art Pepper, Bill Harris, and Shelly Manne. Also included are two takes of "Portrait of Jennie," an early strings affair that nicely foreshadows Cole's symphonic run of hits in the '50s. This disc might not work too well as a prime introduction to the the Nat Cole Trio's '40s material -- check out Capitol's Vocal Classics titles for that -- but it certainly will please fans wanting to delve beyond the more popular tracks. And for those keen on getting a good share of Cole's instrumental and jazz-centric sides, check out Capitol's Instrumental Classics and Jazz Encounters collections. Stephen Cook
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