Nat King Cole
piano, vocals
Pianist and singer who led a celebrated jazz trio before becoming world famous as a vocalist; Barry counts him with Louis Jordan among “the majors” he listened to when young and calls him a brilliant pianist whose singing overshadowed his playing.
- mentions
- 3
- recordings
- 3
- Barry speaking
- 0
What Barry says
Remembering the house parties and rhythm and blues gigs of his youth, Barry says he and his friends had great fun listening to Louis Jordan and Nat King Cole, and calls the two of them the majors.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶227Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶229
The pity with Cole, Barry says, is that people all over the world fell in love with the singer and not with the piano playing, which was brilliant. So the public heard more of his singing than his piano.
Barry is careful to add that he and his friends enjoyed the singing too, but he wishes the piano had been heard a little more.
In his own words
See the drag about Nat King Cole was everybody fell in love with the singers. See, all over the world they fell in love with the singers. They didn’t fall in love with the piano playing, which was brilliant.
He was a brilliant pianist, you know. So you heard less of the piano playing, and more of the singing
But it would have been nice to hear the piano a little more
Oh man we had so much fun listening to Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole.
Every mention
3 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Ep. 20 | Charles McPherson: Meeting Charlie Parker, Studying with Barry Harris, and the Art of Bebop
- 16:50
A student
Charles McPherson: the world knows Cole as a singer, but basically he was a great jazz pianist.
Jazz GUITAR Reflections on BARRY HARRIS
- 15:51
A student
A guest who attended Barry’s classes hears elements of Barry’s approach in Nat King Cole’s playing.
My Chat With Chris Parks From Things I Learned From Barry Harris
- 12:30
A student
To learn unfamiliar tunes Barry taught, Chris Parks looked for singers who kept the melody straight, like Sinatra or Cole.
In the interviews and notes
Barry recalls how much he and his friends enjoyed Louis Jordan and Nat King Cole in his youth and calls them the majors.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶227Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶229
He regrets that the world fell for Cole’s voice rather than his piano, which he rates as brilliant; he liked the singing as well, but would have liked to hear more piano.
De Lima quotes Barry’s remarks on Cole in a table of his statements under major influences and role models, and his summary names Cole and Louis Jordan among the role models Barry listened to a lot.
Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula ¶658Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula ¶661Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula ¶688