In preparation for an all-Nat King Cole tribute show this Sunday, in the past few days I've listened to everything I've got by Cole, plus rented several DVDs. I think I'm beginning to understand the insane project. I feel like I've learned a lot about Nat King Cole just from listening to the saturation point. Not just "I like the Trio better than the schmaltzy stuff with the strings;" I knew that already. I was surprised by how much his voice had evolved. Cole tended to record the same songs repeatedly over the years, which makes it easier to hear the difference. Using Audacity (I love that program!) I spliced together three versions of "Sweet Lorraine," spanning two decades, to illustrate the point during the show. There's a lot more to Nat King Cole than just that guy who did syrupy ballads like "Unforgettable" and "Mona Lisa," and whose memory was pillaged by his daughter.
Speaking of which, I'm doing a tribute to Nat King Cole this Sunday at 2pm. 88.7 if you're local, wxdu.org if you're not.
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Yup, that's the joy of it right there. Immersion in a prolific musician's discography leads to knowing it so much better and liking it so much more. When I got to the end of Cole's 18 disc Capitol Complete Recordings, I wished there was another one, he's so dreamy.
Didn't note the date but this weekend is right around the 1st anniversary of launching the Insane Project. After several recent detours I'm about 2/3rds through the Ethiopiques series. Already wishing there were more than 21 of those. Love that jumpin' Addis sound. At this rate the Project should take 3.5 years. Work is kicking my ass way too much for me to blog about it anymore though. :(
My mystery show is April 13th. The current plan is an hour of anti-tax songs, but I may just go with a theme I've wanted to do for awhile, an hour of nothing but versions of "Nature Boy." Which of course begins and ends with Nat King Cole.
Nat King Cole is indeed dreamy! One of the DVDs I rented has a version of "Nature Boy" with just the Trio, no strings. Do you have that one?