Nat "King" Cole, Pianist/SingerBorn: March 17, 1919 (Montgomery, AL)
Died: February 15, 1965 (Santa Monica, CA)
Nat "King" Cole, byname of "Nathaniel Adams Cole", family name originally "Coles" was an American musician hailed as one of the best and most influential pianists and small-group leaders of the swing era. Cole attained his greatest commercial success, however, as a vocalist specializing in warm ballads and light swing.
Cole grew up in Chicago, where, by age 12, he sang and played organ in the church where his father was pastor. He formed his first jazz group, the "Royal Dukes", five years later. In 1937, after touring with a black musical revue, he began playing in jazz clubs in Los Angeles. There he formed the "King Cole Trio" (originally King Cole and His Swingsters), with guitarist Oscar Moore (later replaced by Irving Ashby) and bassist Wesley Prince (later replaced by Johnny Miller). The trio specialized in swing music with a delicate touch in that they did not employ a drummer; also unique were the voicings of piano and guitar, often juxtaposed to sound like a single instrument. An influence on jazz pianists such as Oscar Peterson, Cole was known for a compact, syncopated piano style with clean, spare, melodic phrases.
