As for Cole, his warm, close-grained baritone was as persuasive on romantic ballads as it was on swing tunes. Even after he disbanded the King Cole Trio, his hugely successful combo, to concentrate on stand-up singing in 1951, he continued to feature his playing in small but tasty doses on record, in concert and on TV. While his prose occasionally runs to the slapdash, Mr. Friedwald knows everything there is to know about his subject and presents it in a readable fashion, and his biography will be the last word about Nat King Cole for many years to come. The story told by Mr. Friedwald is emblematically American, but in a way with which most white Americans are unfamiliar. To this, Cole added a feel for the blues that Hines lacked, plus a forward-looking harmonic vocabulary all his own.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 14, 2020 15:11 UTC