Episode 15: King Cole Covers

About this episode

This episode celebrates Nat King Cole's musical legacy and the songs he popularized, featuring covers by various artists.

Nat King Cole's transition from a respected jazz pianist to a mainstream icon was a perfect storm of technical brilliance, a groundbreaking vocal style, and a persona that radiated "suave sophistication." While jazz purists sometimes lamented his move toward pop, it was his ability to blend jazz's complexity with pop's accessibility that made him a household name. He delivered hit after hit with a penchant for candidates (or entries from) the Great American Songbook. With this in mind, we’ll take this week’s show in an direction that honors the songs he became most famous for…from Bobby Troup’s Route 66 to Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life…covered by others including some rocking tributes, some ballads in the style of country and bluesy soul numbers from Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke. We don’t stop there. Join Dave Stroud for another celebration from a hundred years of America’s music

People in this episode

Host: Dave Stroud

Topics covered

• Nat King Cole
• jazz
• pop music
• Great American Songbook
• music covers
• American music history

Keywords

• Nat King Cole
• Route 66
• Lush Life
• jazz pianist
• pop music
• music covers
• American Songbook

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