Freddy Cole

Lionel Frederick "Freddy" Cole ( * October 15, 1931 ) is an American jazz pianist and singer. The New York Times considers him one of the most mature, most expressive jazz vocalists of his generation.

Life and work

Freddy Cole began at the age of six years playing the piano and studied at the Juilliard School and at Boston's New England Conservatory later. In 1952, he released his first single. He worked with Earl Bostic and Grover Washington, Jr. - later on his album All My Tomorrows of 1994 - and produced commercial jingles for Turner Classic Movies. His artistic breakthrough as a jazz singer, he won late in the 1990s; During this time he recorded a number of albums on the Fantasy label with guest musicians such as Larry Willis, Antonio Hart, Robin Eubanks, Lew Soloff, Cedar Walton, George Mraz, Ben Riley and others. With its regular Freddy Cole Quartet ( Cole on piano and vocals, accompanied by guitarist Randy Napoleon, drummer Curtis Boyd and bassist Elias Bailey ) he plays regularly in the U.S., Europe, the Far East and South America. In 2001 he worked with on the album " But Beautiful " by Jimmy Scott. Cole was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2011, he appeared as a guest of the hr-Bigband on the Rheingau Music Festival.

Freddy Cole was portrayed in the film documentary The Cole Nobody Knows by filmmaker Clay Walker 2006. Freddy Cole is the younger brother of Eddie Cole, Ike Cole & Nat King Cole and uncle of Natalie Cole.

Auswahldiskographie

Lexigraphic entries

• Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Edition, London, Penguin, 2002 ISBN 0-14-017949-6.