William Randolph "Cozy" Cole (October 17, 1909 – January 9, 1981)
was an American jazz drummer who worked with
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...
and
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
among others and led his own groups.
Life and career
William Randolph Cole was born in
East Orange, New Jersey, United States.
His first music job was with
Wilbur Sweatman in 1928.
In 1930, he played for
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...
's Red Hot Peppers,
recording an early drum solo on "Load of Cole". He spent 1931–33 with
Blanche Calloway, 1933–34 with
Benny Carter, 1935–36 with
Willie Bryant, 1936–38 with
Stuff Smith
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith (August 14, 1909 – September 25, 1967), better known as Stuff Smith, was an American jazz violinist. He is well known for the song " If You're a Viper" (the original title was "You'se a Viper").
Smith was, al ...
's small combo, and 1938–42 with
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...
.
In 1942, he was hired by CBS Radio music director
Raymond Scott as part of network radio's first integrated orchestra. After that he played with
Louis Armstrong's All Stars.
Cole performed with
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
and his All Stars with
Velma Middleton singing vocals for the ninth
Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at
Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. The concert was produced by
Leon Hefflin, Sr. on June 7, 1953. Also featured that day were
Roy Brown and his Orchestra,
Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen,
Earl Bostic,
Nat "King" Cole, and
Shorty Rogers and his Orchestra.
Cole had hits with the songs "
Topsy I" and "
Topsy II".
"Topsy II" peaked at No. 3 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and at No. 1 on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a
gold disc.
The track peaked at No. 29 in the UK Singles Chart in 1958.
The recording contained a long drum solo and was one of the few drum solo recordings to make the charts at ''Billboard'' magazine. The single was issued by Love Records, a small record label in Brooklyn, New York. Cole's song "Turvy II" reached No. 36 in 1959.
In 1959, Cozy performed at the
Peacock Alley in
St. Louis with his wife Lee Parker who was an entertainer.
She studied dancing under
Katherine Durham.
Cole appeared in music-related films, including a brief cameo in ''
Don't Knock the Rock''. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s he continued to perform in a variety of settings alongside names like
Jonah Jones,
Stuff Smith
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith (August 14, 1909 – September 25, 1967), better known as Stuff Smith, was an American jazz violinist. He is well known for the song " If You're a Viper" (the original title was "You'se a Viper").
Smith was, al ...
, and
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...
.
Cole and
Gene Krupa often played drum duets at the Metropole in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1978,
Capital University in Columbus, awarded Cole an honorary degree of Doctor of Musical Arts.
Cole is cited as an influence by many contemporary rock drummers, including
Cozy Powell, who took his nickname "Cozy" from Cole. In 1981, he died of cancer in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
.
Cole was the teacher of
Philly Joe Jones
Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer.
Biography Early career
As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio stat ...
.
Discography
As leader
* ''Earl's Backroom and Cozy's Caravan'' (Felsted, 1958) – album shared with
Earl Hines
* ''The Drummer Man with the Big Beat'' (King, 1959)
* ''Cozy Cole Hits!'' (Love, 1959)
* ''A Cozy Conception of Carmen'' (Charlie Parker, 1962)
* ''Hot and Cozy'' with
Hot Lips Page (Continental, 1962)
* ''It's a Cozy World'' (Coral, 1964)
* ''It's a Rocking Thing!'' (Columbia, 1966)
* ''Concerto for Cozy'' (Savoy, 1975)
* ''Lionel Hampton Presents: Cozy Cole and Marty Napoleon'' (Who's Who in Jazz, 1977)
* ''Nice All Stars'' (Black and Blue, 1978)
As sideman
*
Red Allen, ''Al Jazzbo Collins Jazz at the Metropole Cafe'' (Bethlehem, 1955)
* Red Allen, ''Ride, Red, Ride in Hi-Fi'' (RCA Victor, 1957)
* Red Allen, ''At Newport'' (Verve, 1957)
*
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
, ''Satchmo On Stage'' (Decca, 1957)
*
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...
, ''Hi De Ho Man'' (Columbia, 1974)
*
Johnny Guarnieri, Tony Mottola, Bob Haggart, ''An Hour of Modern Piano Rhythms'' (Royale, 1959)
*
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...
, ''Who's Who in Jazz Presents: Lionel Hampton'' (Philips, 1977)
*
Cass Harrison, ''Wrappin' It Up'' (MGM 1957)
*
Earl Hines & Jonah Jones & Buddy Tate, ''Back On the Street'' (Chiaroscuro, 1972)
*
Jonah Jones, ''Trumpet On Tour'' (Baronet, 1962)
*
Wingy Manone, ''Wingy Manone Vol. 1'' (RCA, 1969)
*
Jimmy McPartland, Zutty Singleton, Miff Mole, Wild Bill Davison ''Dixieland at Carnegie Hall Forum'' (Circle, 1958)
*
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...
, ''Mr. Jelly Lord'' (RCA Victor, 1967)
*
Sammy Price, ''Barrelhouse and Blues'' (Jazztone, 1955)
*
Rex Stewart, ''Rex Stewart and the Ellingtonians'' (Riverside, 1960)
Singles
References
External links
Drummerworld: Cozy Cole- includes video and sound clips
Discogs.com
Cozy Cole recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Cozy
Swing drummers
American jazz drummers
African-American drummers
1909 births
1981 deaths
Musicians from East Orange, New Jersey
Savoy Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Ohio
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
The Cab Calloway Orchestra members
20th-century African-American musicians
Drummers from New Jersey