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Portrait of Nat King Cole Trio [BOX SET] by Gallerie

01/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everyone loves to hear Nat "King" Cole sing love ballads with his warm, smooth voice.But he started out as a "swing" man. In the 1940's he and his Trio played swing music with a fun, playful style. Cole wanted to be respected as a piano player more than a singer. And his technique is great. So is his guitarist. The arrangements are tight. It's obvious these guys played together all the time. And there are also some beautiful ballads evenly mixed in. It's nice to hear Cole sing them in that honey-smooth voice, but without the overproduced strings so prevalent in his later recordings. Some compilations of the NKC Trio have been weak and scratchy, but the sound quality of this remaster is very good.Also recommended; Nat King Cole: After Midnight: The Complete Sessions [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]The same fun sound of the Trio recordings, though not as tight, probably due to the intervening years, still very nice. And as a bonus there are some extra instuments, horns, sax and even a jazz violin to fill out the sound a little but not overpower it. Also, as it was recorded later, in the 1950's and recently remastered, the sound quality is even better than the Trio recordings. In fact the sound quality is excellent.Also recommended; Sinatra And Sextet: Live In Paris It's nice to hear Sinatra in an intimate club atmosphere, with a sextet instead of huge orchestrations. In the 1960's his voice was not as strong, but had developed a nice mellow quality."