Nat King Cole Trio: Instrumental Classics

Nat King Cole | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 25, 1992)
• Original Release Date: February 25, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000002V0B
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,273 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #12 in Music > Indie Music > Broadway & Vocalists
  • #40 in Music > Blues > Jump Blues
  • #72 in Music > Indie Music > Pop > Traditional & Vocal Pop

Track Listings

1. Jumpin' At Capitol

2. The Man I Love

3. Body And Soul

4. Prelude In C Sharp Major

5. What Is This Thing Called Love

6. Easy Listening Blues

7. Sweet Georgia Brown

8. This Way Out

9. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

10. Honeysuckle Rose

11. Rhumba Azul

12. Moonlight In Vermont

13. How High The Moon

14. I'll Never Be The Same

15. These Foolish Things

16. Laugh! Cool Clown

17. Bop Kick

18. Peaches

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Vocals
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 25-FEB-1992

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oscar's Primary Progenitor?, August 12, 2002

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nat King Cole Trio: Instrumental Classics (Audio CD)

If like me you came to jazz after 1955, chances are you're quite familiar with Nat the pop singing star but know far less about his piano prowess. This is the album that finally set the record straight for me--he was above all a talented, creative jazz pianist whose sensual voice seduced not only the public but Nat as well into listening exclusively to its promises of fame and fortune. Had he not sung a note, he would no doubt have taken his place right alongside Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. In fact, listening to him on this album is so much like hearing Oscar Peterson (who ironically inherited Nat's singing voice as well) that I've had to revise my life-long assumption that Oscar was above all a descendant of Tatum. The Cole lineage seems ever more traceable, especially when you consider that one of Oscar's favorite jazz performances was "Easy Listening Blues," one of 18 tracks on this CD.

Twenty-five years ago I had a chance to have a brew or two with Monty Alexander. When I asked him if Oscar was a major influence, he responded: "Yes, but not as much as Nat." Now I finally understand what he was talking about.

(Note: No doubt Capitol will replace this 1992 reissue with a remastered version minus the surface noise. Bear in mind, however, that there's always a trade-off: Eliminating "scratchy" sounds also erases high-frequency musical information.)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars King Cole Trio, Greatest Small Band Ever, March 2, 2006

By 

G. E. Williams (White Plains, Westchester County, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nat King Cole Trio: Instrumental Classics (Audio CD)

Nat Cole was a great band leader and arranger besides being a great vocalist and pianist. The first eleven selections are outstanding "Jumpin' At Capitol" through "Rhumba Azul." The next four are basically piano solos with accompanment by the guitar and the bass. The last three are average with annoying bongos/congas. But the first eleven with what Will Friedwald termed the greatest edition of the King Cole Trio (Cole, guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Johnny Miller) overwhelmingly makes this a five-star CD album that the inferior quality of the last seven does not detract from it. In my opinion, Capitol should have included "I Know That You Know," "To A Wild Rose," "Rex Rhumba," "In The Cool Of The Evening," and "Laguna Mood" in lieu of the last seven.

The way Cole, Moore and Miller treated "The Man I Love" by the Gershwin Brothers rates as classical jazz. It is the best rendition of that great work of art that I ever heard. In fact "The Man I Love" with "Body And Soul," by Johnny Green and et al, Rachmaninov's "Prelude In C Sharp Minor" and Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love" constitute the greatest date (January 17, 1944) in recorded history for small group jazz.

Enjoy the music by the King Cole Trio as I have since 1963 when I was a fourteen-year old kid.

G. E. Williams, White Plains, Westchester County, New York

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Yup...It's Nat King Cole..., December 11, 2006

By 

Brian Schiff "jaywilton" (Detroit Mi. USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Nat King Cole Trio: Instrumental Classics (Audio CD)

This has to be the ultimate double take album;everybody I've played it for
says,"That's Nat King Cole?!I knew he could sing,but..." Well, I'm certainly happy to have tracked this down as proof that the critics aren't always wrong;he really was one of the handful of great pianists,ever.And check out the treatment he gives to Rachmaninoff's
'Prelude In C Sharp Minor' and 'Laugh!Cool Clown'-his take on 'Pagliacci' by Leoncavallo.'However,Cole's drummerless trio came about(the cd booklet isn't entirely sure whether drummer Lee Young-Lester's brother didn't show up for a gig or a club owner suggested it-Cole,along with Oscar Moore on guitar and Johnny Miller on bass,was one very fortunate "accident".