Remembering a Man Who Was ‘One of a Kind’

As a singer, a musician and a friend, Nat King Cole was in a class all by himself.

* He was a classic musician with an irresistible sound and universal appeal; a singer whose influence was felt by a whole generation of vocalists from Johnny Mathis to Sam Cooke, Jesse Belvin to George Benson.

* As a pianist, Nat was in the genius category. Because he was such a proficient instrumentalist, he became one of the all-time great accompanists. The singing style he later developed was astonishing; every note, every chord, every rhythm pattern hugged his songs like a cushion. It was a sound that just melted you away.

* Nat was a remarkable musician: funky, musical, powerful, hip. And he had perfect pitch. He could do things with songs like “Lush Life” that few singers could even approach. To my mind, there hasn’t been anyone like him before or since.

* He, along with Billy Eckstine and Sammy Davis Jr., blazed a path of blood for black entertainers. They made it possible for artists like Johnny Mathis, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson to reach the heights of the entertainment world. It was fierce for blacks back in the ‘40s and ‘50s, and those pioneers really paid their dues.

Nat played Vegas in the days when a black entertainer would headline in the main showroom and have to eat in the kitchen. Nat was one of the first black entertainers to host his own TV variety show. Headliners like Jack Benny and George Burns appeared on it for free, in a futile attempt to make it successful.

But my fondest memories of Nat are very personal, because he meant so much to me throughout my whole life and career.

The first time I heard Nat Cole was when the “Jazz at the Philharmonic” tour came to Seattle in 1949. It was the biggest show ever to hit the city up to that time. Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet--musicians I idolized--were also part of the tour, and the show had the kind of electricity you associate these days with a big rock ‘n’ roll concert.

Nat’s songs “I Love You for Sentimental Reasons” and “The Christmas Song” were like national anthems for me when I was a teen-ager: the songs that made you stop everything and take your girl out on the floor to dance. I still have a profound nostalgia for those songs and Nat’s voice.

Around the time that “Jazz at the Philharmonic” came to Seattle, Ray Charles moved there from Florida. But Ray didn’t sound anything like the Ray Charles you hear today. I played trumpet with Ray in the Charlie Taylor and Bumps Blackwell bands, and most of the time Ray would sing in the Nat King Cole style.

That was as close as I got to working with Nat until 1960. I was stranded with my big band in Europe when promoter Norman Granz asked us to join Nat on a tour through the Continent. I had a great band together then--Clark Terry, Benny Bailey, Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson, Jimmy Cleveland, Melba Liston and Bud Johnson, all fantastic musicians. We joined up with Nat and worked all over Europe--Sweden, Denmark, France, Italy and Germany. The gigs were set up with my band going out to play for 35 to 40 minutes; there’d be an intermission, and then Nat would perform. The shows were great, but I especially remember one night in Zurich, Switzerland when the audience gave Nat a hard time.

We couldn’t figure out what was wrong at first, and then I realized the crowd was filled with jazz purists who knew Nat from “Jazz at the Philharmonic.” They didn’t want to hear Nat doing his pop material. I leaned over to Nat and suggested he just play some piano. Nat sat down, played “Sweet Lorraine,” and just tore the place up.

We spent a lot of time together on that tour and I’ll always cherish those memories. It was like one big family, and it was only natural that Nat brought along his daughter, Natalie, who was only 7 at the time, and who eventually attended summer camp in Michigan with my daughter, Jolie.

Nat didn’t just have great talent, he also had great insights into the music business, and I count him among the teachers who helped guide me along.

One night in a beer garden in Germany, Nat told me there were two kinds of career paths for musicians. There was one that took you straight up to the top very quickly and burned you out just as fast. And there was another way, in which you just grew and studied and made your music better and better. That way, your career rose steadily and allowed you to achieve some longevity. Nat always emphasized professionalism and longevity, and I took that lesson to heart.