![]() I hope you'll join us.įRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Being a black gay boy is a death wish." Our book critic Maureen Corrigan describes Jones' memoir as raw and eloquent. He writes, "being black can get you killed. His new coming-of-age memoir, "How We Fight For Our Lives," is about growing up black, gay and closeted in Texas at a time when he thought being gay meant dying of AIDS. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, my guest will be Saeed Jones. He reviewed Nat King Cole "Hittin' The Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943)," a seven-CD reissue of his early recordings. GROSS: Kevin Whitehead writes for Point of Departure and The Audio Beat. When you see them, you'll realize why I love my sweet Lorraine. A pair of eyes that are bluer than the summer sky. I am as happy as baby boy with another brand new choo-choo toy when I met my sweet Lorraine. He'd get back to it sometimes, if not often enough for jazz fans. That's when the trio honed favorites like "Straighten Up And Fly Right" and "Sweet Lorraine." Once Cole became a singing star, he moved away from the piano. They'd been polishing their repertoire on gigs and radio shows during a long hiatus in recording owing to a standoff between the musicians' union and the record companies. WHITEHEAD: By the time the Nat Cole Trio began knocking out hits for Capitol late in 1943, they were ready to break through. ![]() (SOUNDBITE OF NAT KING COLE SONG, "YOU'RE MY LIFE") You can hear Garner's style coming in Cole's 1939 "You're My Life." Pianist Erroll Garner's left hand could mimic strummed guitar under his right-hand block chords like he wanted to be Oscar Moore and Nat Cole at the same time. Over the years, the piano-guitar-bass lineup was copied by, among others, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal and singing pianist Diana Krall. Oscar Moore's rhythm was so solid they didn't need a drummer. WHITEHEAD: The trio fit Nat King Cole like a tux. For the musicians involved, squeezing all the action into less than three minutes was good training for making pop records. WHITEHEAD: Most of the trio music in the box "Hittin' The Ramp" comes from so-called transcription recordings, which were made for radio stations - short performances broadcasters used to plug holes in programming. (SOUNDBITE OF NAT KING COLE TRIO SONG, "I FOUND A NEW BABY") ![]() Almost all the music is by the Cole Trio, but there are a couple of small groups with top tenor saxophonists - Lester Young, or this one, Dexter Gordon. It's called "Hittin' The Ramp: The Early Years (1936 - 1943)" from the Resonance label. WHITEHEAD: The Nat King Cole Trio in 1939, before Oscar Moore switched to electric guitar - this music's from a seven-CD roundup of stuff Cole recorded before signing with Capitol Records, where he became a star. If you want to get back to your team, let's get happy tonight. Let's go from North Dakota to New Orleans. NAT KING COLE TRIO: (Singing) Now you've really got the ways and means. Harmony vocals were as central to the trio's act as the hot instrumental work, which very much included Oscar Moore's guitar solo. He formed a trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince, the band that put Cole over and where he sang from the first. WHITEHEAD: Nat Cole's career didn't really get going till a couple of years later after he'd moved to Los Angeles. (SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE COLE'S SOLID SWINGERS' "THUNDER") Here's Cole on his first record date, Chicago in 1936. Early on and sometimes later, he could catch Hines' blend of antic action and pinpoint timing. To be sure, he was a formidable pianist who come up in Earl Hines' Chicago. See, for example, a short biopic where he plays himself, "The Nat King Cole Musical Story," which you can find online. Later in his career as one of the great 20th century pop singers, publicists sold the idea that the pianist had only reluctantly backed into singing. KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Nat King Cole in 1940. ![]() I'd love to circulate, bring you my head today. And just for fun, we'll show them how we can go to town. I know them where the music is really low down. NAT KING COLE: (Singing) We'll call up spots. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has the details. His centenary this year has prompted numerous tribute albums and now a big reissue of his early recordings. Pop singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole was born 100 years ago.
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