1. You Can Depend on Me
2. Candy
3. Sweet Lorraine
4. It’s Only a Paper Moon
5. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
6. Don’t let it Go to Your Head
7. You’re Looking at Me
8. Just You, Just Me
9. I Was a Little Too Lonely (and You Were a Little Too Late)
10. Caravan
11. The Lonely One
12. Blame It on My Youth
13. What is There to Say?
14. Sometimes I’m Happy
15. I Know That You Know
16. When I Grow Too Old to Dream
17. Two Loves Have I
18. You’re Looking at Me
19. Don’t Blame Me
20. It Could Happen to You
21. I Surrender Dear
22. Little Girl
Nat King Cole – Piano, vocals
John Collins – Guitar
Charlie Harris – Bass
Lee Young – Drums
Harry "Sweets" Edison – Trumpet (tracks 1-5)
Willie Smith – Alto sax (tracks 6-9, 18)
Juan Tizol - Valve trombone (tracks 10-13)
Stuff Smith - Violin (tracks 14-17)
Jack Costanzo - Congas, bongoes (track 10)
The After Midnight sessions, recorded in 1956 and released in 1957, might have been subtitled “Goodbye to all that”. They were the last time that
Nat King Cole recorded a jazz album, accompanying himself at the piano. He dipped his toes gently into jazz once more with his 1961 collaboration with
George Shearing (
http://www.musicweb-international.com/jazz/2014/Nat_King_Cole_48736.htm
), although George played the piano on that session.
By 1957, Nat was already better known as a vocalist than as the pianist he started out as, but this album proves that he could still cut the mustard when
it came to jazz. He was assisted by four excellent instrumentalists, who helped to give the album extra variety. In fact the album was recorded on four
different days: one day for each guest.
Nat was a master of a loping style: delivering vocals at a relaxed pace, but never forgetting to swing. This works particularly well in the first five
tracks, where Harry Edison’s muted trumpet provides a perfect foil, commenting in the background or soloing with panache. Altoist Willie Smith is equally
discreet, especially in the clever arrangement of Just You, Just Me: a virtually perfect track. Here and elsewhere, guitarist John Collins
supplies some choice solos.
Juan Tizol’s four tracks start inevitably with his famous composition Caravan, which includes an uncredited Jack Costanzo furnishing exotic
percussion. Cole’s tender vocal in Blame It on My Youth illustrates why he readily became a top-class popular singer. Tracks 14 to 17 shift things
up a gear, as violinist Stuff Smith enters with his usual animation. On Sometimes I’m Happy, Smith is fairly restrained, contributing romantic
phrases behind Cole’s vocal and adding a short but expressive solo. But in I Know That You Know, the violin is gloriously frenetic, sparking off a
scintillating piano solo. And in Two Loves Have I, Stuff goes into gypsy mode.
The last four tracks on this CD are bonuses from a 1955 session in which Cole was accompanied by the same rhythm section. Nat is listed for these as
pianist and vocalist but he doesn’t actually sing on these tracks, which are all instrumentals. This gives us a chance to savour his superb pianism. These
bonus tracks make a classic album even more desirable.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Masterworks 21323
