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Lionel Frederick Cole (October 15, 1931 – June 27, 2020) was an American
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
singer and pianist whose recording career spanned almost 70 years. He was the brother of musicians
Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
, Eddie Cole, and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole, and uncle of
Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...
and Carole Cole.


Early life

Freddy Cole was born to Rev. Edward J. Coles and Perlina (née Adams) Coles, and grew up in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, Illinois. His brothers Nat "King" Cole (1919–1965), Eddie (1910–1970), and Ike (1927–2001) also each pursued careers in music. He began playing piano at the age of six, and continued his musical education at the Roosevelt Institute in Chicago. He moved to New York in 1951, where he studied at the Juilliard School of Music before completing a master's degree at the
New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...
of Music.


Career

Following the moderate success of "Whispering Grass" on OKeh Records in 1953 Cole spent several months on the road with Johnny Coles and Benny Golson as the Earl Bostic band. During the 1970s, Cole recorded several albums for European and English-based labels. He went on to work with Grover Washington, Jr. and to record jingles for various companies, including
Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
He was the subject of the 2006 documentary, '' The Cole Nobody Knows''. In June of that year, Cole was added to the Steinway Artist roster. Cole was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In July 2009, he released a recording featuring his own quartet (guitarist Randy Napoleon, drummer Curtis Boyd, and bassist Elias Bailey), along with tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon and pianist John DiMartino, playing live at Dizzy's jazz club in
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
. His 2010 album, ''Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B'', was nominated for the Grammy in the category Best Jazz Vocal Album. The album features tenor
Houston Person Houston Person (born November 10, 1934) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing music, swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. He re ...
, pianist John DiMartino, guitarist/arranger Randy Napoleon, drummer Curtis Boyd, and bassist Elias Bailey. In 2010, his publicist Al Gomes scored Cole his first national TV appearance in years, performing live on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. His 2018 album, '' My Mood is You'' was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album; the album features Napoleon, Bailey, DiMartino as well as drummer Quentin Baxter and tenor Joel Frahm. Arrangements are by Napoleon and DiMartino. Cole's influences included John Lewis,
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...
,
Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive Swing music, swing pianist", Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. His style was high ...
and Billy Eckstine. When speaking of Eckstine, Cole recalled: "He was a fantastic entertainer. I learned so much from just watching and being around him." Guitarist Randy Napoleon, who has been playing and recording with Cole since 2007, said: "Freddy just glides through life. He's got a lot of patience, warmth, a great sense of humor. The music is really inseparable from the person...One of the things that makes Freddy really great is his elegance and careful, judicious editing. He doesn't play a lot of notes on piano, but the ones he plays really do make the band feel great. They're melodic, it swings, and that's it. He doesn't feel you need a lot of extra, fancy stuff."


Death

Freddy Cole died on June 27, 2020, aged 88. He was remembered by notable jazz artists in an article in ''ArtsATL''.


Discography

* '' Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues'' ( Dot, 1964) * ''On Second Thought'' (De-Lite, 1969) * ''Freddy Cole's Christmas Dreams'' (Arrikka, 1975) * ''As Long As I'm Singing'' (First Shot, 1976) * ''The Cole Nobody Knows'' (First Shot, 1976) * ''Just Plain Freddy - Live'' (First Shot, 1976) * ''Sing'' (Demand, 1977) * ''One More Love Song'' (Decca (UK), 1978) * ''I Loved You'' (Som Livre, 1978) * ''Latino'' (Som Livre, 1979) * ''Right from the Heart'' (Decca (UK), 1980) * ''Like a Quiet Storm'' (Dinky, 1983) * ''Appearing Nightly'' (Dinky, 1987) * ''I'm Not My Brother I'm Me'' ( Sunnyside, 1991) * ''Just the Way I Am – Salute to Nat King Cole'' (Alfa, 1992) * ''Live at Birdland West'' (Laserlight, 1992) * ''This Is the Life'' (
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, 1993) * ''Live at Vartan Jazz'' (Vartan Jazz, 1994) * ''Always'' (
Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
, 1994) * ''I Want a Smile for Christmas'' (Fantasy, 1994) * ''A Circle of Love'' (Fantasy, 1996) * ''It's Crazy but I'm in Love'' (After 9, 1996) * ''The Ends of the Earth'' (Fantasy, 1997)John Swenson, ''The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide 1999'', p. 159 * ''Love Makes the Changes'' (Fantasy, 1998) * ''Le Grand Freddy'' (Fantasy, 1999) * ''Merry-Go-Round'' ( Telarc, 2000) * ''Rio De Janeiro Blue'' (Telarc, 2001) * ''In the Name of Love'' (Telarc, 2003) * ''This Love of Mine'' ( HighNote, 2005) * ''Because of You'' (HighNote, 2006) * ''Music Maestro Please'' with Bill Charlap (HighNote, 2007) * ''When You're Smiling'' with Marlena Shaw (Ratspack, 2007) * ''The Dreamer in Me: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola'' (HighNote, 2009) * '' Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B'' (HighNote, 2010) * ''Talk to Me'' (HighNote, 2011) * ''This and That'' (HighNote, 2013) * ''Singing the Blues'' (HighNote, 2014) * ''He Was The King'' (HighNote, 2016) * '' My Mood Is You'' (HighNote, 2018)


References


External links

*
filmmaker Clay Walker's documentary on Freddy ColePBS video of performance at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Freddy 1931 births 2020 deaths American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists American jazz singers Nat King Cole Sue Records artists Muse Records artists 20th-century American pianists African-American male singers Sunnyside Records artists Fantasy Records artists Telarc Records artists HighNote Records artists Decca Records artists African-American jazz pianists 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American musicians