Natalie Cole: Intimacy, Versatility at the Roxy

It was a special treat to see Natalie Cole in an intimate setting like the Roxy. Intimate was the operative word on Saturday, since the club was crammed so tight with fans that one patron was heard to grumble, “The fire marshal should get a look at this.”

Cole herself was in fine fettle, looking trim and comely in a black fringed mini-dress and fishnet stockings. Her songs ran the gamut from the scat-embellished jazz smoothie “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” to the Springsteen rocker “Pink Cadillac” and finally to the stunning, full-blown blues number “I’m Catchin’ Hell.” They reminded you that while Cole’s contemporaries like Anita Baker and Whitney Houston may get most of the media acclaim and rack up the most record sales, Cole has them both beat when it comes to versatility.

When she first began recording back in the mid-’70s, Cole was touted as the next Aretha Franklin. Over the years she has evolved into a singer with a confident, soul-based style that is wholly her own--and the fact that her evolution has been hard-won only makes it more impressive.