Volume 16 , Issue 20

King Cole Trio

In 1937, Nat King Cole arrived to Los Angeles where he formed the original lineup of the King Cole Trio. The trio consisted of Nat on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Wesley Prince on double bass. The trio played in Los Angeles throughout the late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions.

In 1939, the King Cole Trio was receiving enough attention to embark on its first tour of the East Coast and the Midwest. In New York, Cole, Moore and Prince backed singer Billie Holiday on one of her Manhattan gigs. In 1940, the King Cole Trio made its first commercially available recording of Sweet Lorraine, which featured Cole on lead vocals and became the group's first hit as well as the group's theme on radio.

The outbreak of World War II lead to several line-up changes: Prince, who was drafted into the U.S. military, being temporarily replaced by Red Callender, and later by Johnny Miller who stayed with the group until 1947 (when he was replaced by Irving Ashby). During its 1943-1949 period, the King Cole Trio had its share of major hits, which were not only commercially successful, but also extremely influential.

By the end of the 1940s, Nat King Cole gradually phased out his part as improvising jazz singer/pianist with the King Cole Trio, focussing on his new career as jazz-influenced pop singer that he pursued through the 1950s and early 1960s.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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