Ojai Sam
Staff member
Nat King Cole - Live At The Blue Note Chicago (rec. 1953, Iconic 2024)
Artists like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole who move past jazz to the greener pastures of pop stardom always draw criticism from purists. In his autumnal years, Satchmo released a lot of jazz albums with his All Stars. But apart from one trio reunion in the mid-fifties, Nat's recorded output for Capitol never strayed from the lush sound that brought him mainstream success. That's why this new release from recently uncovered tapes is such a revelation. Cole spent a week at Chicago's Blue Note jazz club in late August 1953, four years after songs like "Mona Lisa" and "Unforgettable" began topping the charts. In 1951, Nat built a road combo consisting of John Collins on guitar and bassist Charlie Harris which traveled with him the rest of his career. For this jazz booking, he added drummer Lee Young, making the music more propulsive than usual.
The producers culled 27 songs with Cole's spoken comments from the over 200 that were captured on reel-to-reel tape by the proprietor of the Blue Note club. Pop hits like "Nature Boy" rub shoulders comfortably with the seminal trio material like "Route 66" and "Straighten Up And Fly Right" that, as Nat says here, "got the ball rolling" for him. His many years in the wilderness of smoky lounges gave Nat the experience to establish a deep rapport with the appreciative audience here. Sound quality is excellent.
:5.0 on the Sam-I-Meter.
Artists like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole who move past jazz to the greener pastures of pop stardom always draw criticism from purists. In his autumnal years, Satchmo released a lot of jazz albums with his All Stars. But apart from one trio reunion in the mid-fifties, Nat's recorded output for Capitol never strayed from the lush sound that brought him mainstream success. That's why this new release from recently uncovered tapes is such a revelation. Cole spent a week at Chicago's Blue Note jazz club in late August 1953, four years after songs like "Mona Lisa" and "Unforgettable" began topping the charts. In 1951, Nat built a road combo consisting of John Collins on guitar and bassist Charlie Harris which traveled with him the rest of his career. For this jazz booking, he added drummer Lee Young, making the music more propulsive than usual.
The producers culled 27 songs with Cole's spoken comments from the over 200 that were captured on reel-to-reel tape by the proprietor of the Blue Note club. Pop hits like "Nature Boy" rub shoulders comfortably with the seminal trio material like "Route 66" and "Straighten Up And Fly Right" that, as Nat says here, "got the ball rolling" for him. His many years in the wilderness of smoky lounges gave Nat the experience to establish a deep rapport with the appreciative audience here. Sound quality is excellent.
:5.0 on the Sam-I-Meter.
