courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz Communications
Nat King Cole may be one of the best examples of a jazz artist that successfully migrated into the pop domain, where he became better known for his “hit parade” presence than for his inventive capacities for jazz improvisation. After dropping out of high school at the age of fifteen, he joined forces with his brother Eddie, who played bass, to form a sextet, whose other members were Tommy Thompson (alto saxophone), Bill Wright (tenor saxophone), Kenneth Roane (trumpet), and Jimmy Adams (drums). By July 28, 1936, they were ready to record for Decca, which released four songs on two single discs. The first of these paired “Honey Hush” with “Stompin’ at the Panama (Skoller’s Shuffle);” and the second coupled “Bedtime (Sleepy Moan)” with “Thunder.” All four of these pieces were composed by Nat.
Last month Resonance Records released a seven-CD comprehensive collection of the recordings that Cole made prior to signing with Capitol Records, when he began to venture out of the domain of “straight jazz.” The title of the collection is Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943). By way of historical context, it is worth observing that Fats Waller died on December 15, 1943. Waller was most at home as a piano soloist and playing in small groups, consistently with high-spirited rhetoric. Similarly, the Resonance anthology tracks Cole through a variety of different small groups with an equally lively rhetoric that suggests Waller as a source of inspiration. (The recording of “Honeysuckle Rose” makes it clear that Waller inspired Cole with repertoire as well as rhetoric.)
By 1938 Cole had formed his first trio with bassist Wesley Prince and guitarist Oscar Moore. They originally called themselves the King Cole Swingsters as a play on the nursery rhyme. By the time they made their first recording, they had shortened the name to the King Cole Trio; and “King” began to take its place as Cole’s middle name. Much of the Resonance collection follows the evolution of this trio through personnel changes, but it also highlights ways in which Cole was both honoring Waller and exploring territory beyond Waller’s scope. One of the more stunning examples involved all three members of the trio singing in unison, not just in the tune itself but in any number of intricate scat riffs on that tune. I am not sure that any subsequent trio has ever pulled off such a high-wire act with such success.
Then there are some of the significant “guest artists” that played with Cole during this period. The fact is that I first became aware of this side of Cole’s career after I had purchased The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve. The first nine tracks of the first CD in this anthology has Young leading a trio with Cole on piano and Buddy Rich on drums in sessions that took place in March and April of 1946. The Resonance collection serves up four tracks from July 15, 1942 with Cole and Young joined by Red Callender on bass. These are all interpretations of popular songs, but the inventiveness of the trio is not to be missed. Callender was also on hand for a Mercury session in the summer of 1943 that saw Cole playing with both Dexter Gordon on tenor saxophone and Harry (“Sweets”) Edison on trumpet. There were the very first recordings that Gordon made.
The entire package has been structured in such a way that all of the released tracks are on the first six CDs. The final CD is devoted to alternate takes. Most likely none of them have been previously released. Most interesting is that five of these tracks are air checks from radio broadcasts by the American Forces Network (AFN). Ironically, this CD also includes three different recordings of “Gone With the Draft.” Cole wrote the words for this witty account of the advantages of having been classified physically unfit for military service. The music was composed jointly with Prince (who again sang along with Cole) and Earl Dramin. As might be guessed, this tune was classified unfit for AFN broadcast!
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