Nat King Cole

COMPLETE CONCERT FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

While parts of this wonderful concert showcasing the Nat King Cole Trio (in fact a quartet, with Irving Ashby on guitar, Joe Comfort on bass, and Jack Costanzo on bongos) had previously appeared on a long out of print Italian LP on the Duke label, this TCB Records CD brings us for the first time the whole October 19, 1950 performance in its original order, including several previously unissued tunes.  1950 was the year in which Cole's career as a singer started off, and so the most remarkable point on this concert for jazz fans (and admitting that Nat's singing was amazing) is that his piano playing is showcased all throughout. In fact, he just sings on three out of the 15 tracks. This is great news, for Cole's piano playing was after that soon obscured by his vocal talents, and as you can check on this splendid concert, he was a hell of a pianist!!!

PERSONNEL:

NAT KING COLE, vocals
IRVING ASHBY, guitar
JOE COMFORT, bass
JACK CONSTANZO, drums

TRACKS:

01. Nothing to Fret About
02. Tea for Two
03. Body and Soul
04. Too Marvelous for Words
05. Bop Kick
06. Saint Louis Blues & Bluesology
07. In the Cool of the Evening
08. Go Bongo
09. How High the Moon
10. Summertime
11. Embraceable You
12. Poor Butterfly
13. Little Girl
14. Sweet Lorraine
15. Route 66