When Cole Was Hot: The Complete Trio Recordings

Jazz fans and critics have long complained that Nat King Cole’s innovative vocal and piano work with a jazz trio in the ‘40s and ‘50s has been overshadowed by his massive pop stardom in the ‘50s and early ‘60s.

Veteran record producer Michael Cuscuna shares that view and he hopes his new 18-volume CD set (or 27-volume vinyl package) will prove his point. The album, “The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio” (Mosaic Records), contains 349 tracks. That’s everything Cole recorded in a trio context between 1942 and ’61.

“Nat was incredible with his clean touch and bell-like sound,” said Cuscuna, who spent two years researching the project. “He was so sophisticated . . . playing in the mid-’40s what later became common place be-bop harmonies.”

Still, Cuscuna, who is co-owner of Mosaic, doesn’t look at the new set as simply a Cole piano--or vocal--showcase. He sees the album as a celebration of the Cole trio, which also mostly featured bassist Johnny Miller and, in succession, guitarists Oscar Moore, Irving Ashby and John Collins.

The trio’s unique instrumentation, which flawlessly offered intricate arrangements, was a major influence on such diverse artists as Oscar Peterson, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans.

“I didn’t realize what a great group this was until I started working on the set,” Cuscuna said.

The collection includes such early Cole favorites as “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” “Sweet Lorraine” and “Route 66,” as well as such arcane selections as “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and “The Geek.”

By focusing on the trio, Cuscuna, understandably, didn’t include in the album the dozens of Cole pop hits--from “Mona Lisa” to “Ramblin’ Rose”--that are readily available in other CD collections.

In all, the Mosaic set--where vocals outnumber instrumentals almost 4 to 1--includes 66 never-before released selections and 56 tunes that were available only as transcriptions that Capitol provided to radio stations, but didn’t release commercially. In addition, 104 tracks were previously released only as singles or in mini-albums.

The set, which costs $270 in either LP or CD format and is available by mail order only, includes a distinctive booklet.

Information: (203) 327-7111.

Critic’s Choice: Stephanie Haynes, who appears the next two Saturday nights at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, is, without a doubt, a jazz singer. Very much like an instrumentalist, Haynes takes a tune and, in her interpretation, progressively alters it.

Haynes, who possesses a robust alto voice, begins a song and sticks fairly close to the letter of the tune. But by her second or third chorus, she’s taking liberties, such as stretching out words, or squeezing them together.

This is all done with exquisite taste, for Haynes always keeps the flavor of the song in mind and has an impeccable feeling for time--the pulse of a rendition. When backed by the keen ears and hands of pianist Dave MacKay, as she is at Loews, she’s at her best.