The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

IN A TRIBUTE to the legendary Nat King Cole, Talk of the Town promotions presented a celebration concert that attracted many Jazz lovers to the Old

Fort Bay Club House, Saturday.
The concert featured Nat King Cole’s brother, Freddy Cole and his Quartet, along with local artists: saxophonist Ralph Munnings, pianist Clinton Crawford and vocalist Naomi Taylor.

As one of the organisers of the concert, Naomi Taylor said proceeds from the event will assist young aspiring musicians towards educational and developmental opportunities.

“The concert was also a fund-raiser, and we are raising funds to help mentor young musicians and to provide opportunities for them to expand their talent. It was also to create a focus for young musicians, to get them into the right habits and discipline when it comes to the music industry,” said Ms Taylor.

The concert was the second major event for the entertainment group. Last year, the concert featured Ralph Munnings.

“It was a great success and we were able to mentor several young musicians. So this year we decided to just take it up a notch and bring in Nat King Cole’s brother, Freddy Cole, who is an excellent world renowned performer,” said Ms Taylor.
Ms Taylor said in the early days, the 50s and 60s, Nat King Cole contributed to the music scene in the Bahamas. “He has influenced and befriended many of our musicians: the Munnings brothers - Freddy and Ralph - as well as Duke Errol Strachan, Peanuts Taylor, those kinds of persons that really made a mark locally here in the Bahamas. Those persons were influential in making sure that our music industry was presented in a way that was professional and it attracted a lot of international artists, with Nat King Cole being one of them,” said Ms Taylor.

During those early days, Ms Taylor said Nat King Cole adopted the Bahamas as a place where he would come and perform a lot of times. She said he came asking for “nothing, no money, no anything”.

“He came because he loved the place, the people and the music. We thought it would be fitting to honour him and what he has done for our noted musicians in the community,” said Ms Taylor.

She said she met Freddy Cole in person in January on a Jazz cruise with her husband. Freddy Cole was one of the performers on board the Jazz cruise.

“When he found out that we were from the Bahamas, he really took a special interest in us and on that trip we talked about the possibilities of him coming over. He was moved and happy to come over. He worked well within our budget, in fact he did the show for little or nothing. Just for the cause and because he held a close connection to the people in the Bahamas. He has many friends, contacts and acquaintances here,” said Ms Taylor.

Ms Taylor said promoters received a lot of calls from locals wanting to get in contact with Freddy Cole, which has been a great response to their decision to bring him in for a concert.
She said last week’s concert was intimate, attracting over 100 people. Ms Taylor said Freddy Cole shared a lot of stories and insight into the life of his brother, Nat King Cole; from the different struggles to the trials and the triumphs.

“During his second set, Freddy broke into a medley of “Cole tunes” that transported the audience back in time. Heads were nodding, lips were smiling, feet were tapping, hands were clapping and those immersed in this music were able to sing along word for word,” said Ms Taylor.
 She said the evening culminated with an exuberant, playful and bluesy rendition of one of Cole’s signature tunes, “Jelly, Jelly, Jelly,” which was described by some members of the audience as “magical and memorable”.