Her impact on pop was unforgettable

It’s become a pretty standard (excuse the pun) career move for veteran modern singers to play dress-up and record the Great American Songbook and traditional vocal pop, as Rod Stewart has done with stunning commercial results in his four albums of standards. Don’t think that has escaped the notice of Natalie Cole. “There ain’t nobody fooling me,” the singer said frostily. “I know where this all came from.”

In other words, don’t forget “Unforgettable.” It’s been 15 years since the release of “Unforgettable ... With Love,” Cole’s survey of the music of her father, Nat King Cole. She took home a bouquet of Grammys (including record and album of the year), then sat back and watched the result. “We put a lot of brass and orchestra players back to work.... I’m not annoyed at Rod and the others. But the room is getting crowded. So I’m out.”

And it’s taking the 56-year-old artist to the Viper Room this week for four shows beginning Tuesday. The small venue is where she kicks off a limited showcase tour of music from her upcoming CD, “Leavin’,” which marks a career pivot. The onetime contemporary soul singer whose music became beholden to the past and jazz after “Unforgettable” is coming back now with a spare but of-the-moment urban pop sound. “That’s why it’s called ‘Leavin’,” she said.

It arrives in stores Sept. 26 and finds Cole covering Shelby Lynne on the title track and interpreting Neil Young, Fiona Apple, Sting, Kate Bush and others. Cole, in the studio for more than a year, cut the album with three musicians (one of them was Dallas Austin) and looked for an uncluttered sound.

“It’s not complicated and we didn’t write things down,” said the singer. “There were no charts, but the sound we got was very purposeful.”

The club shows and some key upcoming television appearances will ramp up the campaign for the music and Cole hopes she has new success on her hands. But she said she was not trying on this new sound for its commercial fashion.

“It wasn’t done for fame and glory,” she said, but for the love of the music.

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-- Geoff Boucher