Customer Reviews

Nat "King" Cole: The Snader Telescriptions

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Snader Telescriptions were short music films sold to television stations in 1950-52 to be used as filler. Each film usually consisted of one song and lasted about 3 minutes. Many big stars of the day were seen on telescriptions, including Nat King Cole and his trio.

Appearing with Nat in these performances are Irving Ashby on guitar, Joe Comfort on bass, and Jack Costanzo on conga drum. This was a crucial period for Nat because he was in transition from being a singer/pianist accompanied by his trio, to a full blown pop ballad singer accompanied by large orchestra. Some of the films on this disc are pure jazz performances by the trio, but others are pop ballads with lush orchestral arrangements, with the trio lamely standing around trying to look like they're contributing to the performances.

The music is first rate and highly recommended. Of particular interest are several rare alternate takes, some very different from the better known versions and some in color.

There's not much in the way of extras here. A biography is included, but in a particularly embarrassing gaffe, it's for pianist Kenny Drew, who has nothing to do with this disc. The sound is, for the most part, in synch, which cannot be said for the DVD "Soundies and Telescriptions" from IDEM.

When I ordered this dvd, I expected the video to be grainy, and not such good quality. I was very surprised to see how well these films have been preserved. The audio is also excellent. Two of the films are in color.

According to the notes on the back of the case, these three minute forerunners of modern videos, were filmed to use as fillers on television. The majority were produced in 1951, and all are live performances, not lip-synch. Two of the performances are the King Cole Trio, with Nat at piano, accompanied by guitar and bass. In one song, "Calypso Blues", we see Nat accompanied only by a conga drum. The remaining performances are the trio, with a conga drum. Six of these also have a string section added.

The production is excellent. Sometimes the camera moves in for close-ups of the musicians' hands as they play their instruments. In several performances, at the insistence of the producer, Nat is wearing heavy make up, making his face look much lighter than his natural skin color.

In these eighteen performances, we see two sides of Nat King Cole. We see him as a jazz pianist on songs such as "Route 66", as well as a crooner on songs such as his hit, "Mona Lisa".

The performances are;

01. Route 66
02. Sweet Loraine
03. Little Girl
04. Home
05. The Trouble With Me Is You
06. Calypso Blues
07. For Sentimental Reasons
08. That's My Girl
09. Mona Lisa
10. Because Of Rain
11. Too Young
12. Always You
13. This Is My Night To Dream
14. Nature Boy
15. You Call It Madness
16. Sweet Loraine(alternate version)
17. Home(alternate version)
18. Nature Boy(alternate version)

This is an excellent collection every fan of Nat King Cole should own.