NAT KING COLE
Genres: Vocal Jazz, Pop, Art Song, Folk, Cool Jazz • United States

Nat "King" Cole (March 17th 1919–February 15th  1965) was a popular American singer and jazz musician. As a piano player, he formed a jazz trio in 1938 that played Los Angeles nightclubs, one of the first jazz trios featuring guitar and piano. Prior to this he had played music since he was a child and had worked with bands since he was sixteen. He was raised in Chicago and exposed to the abundant jazz scene there. He was heavily influenced by pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines. Later he became more popularly known as a singer and crooner and his work became more orchestrated. His first mainstream vocal hit was in 1944 with Straighten Up and Fly Right, based on a black folk tale that his father had used as a theme for a sermon. Although hardly a rocker, the song's success proved that an audience for folk-based material existed. read more...