CULVER CITY — Freddy Cole, the younger brother by 12 years of Nat King Cole, is playing all this week at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City.
Cole wraps up a week on stage with two Valentine’s Day performances Saturday evening. Tickets to the performances include flowers and treats.
Lionel Frederick Cole was born on Oct. 15, 1931, the youngest of Edward and Paulina Nancy Cole’s five children. His three elder brothers, Eddie, Ike and Nat were all musicians.
In the Chicago home of Cole’s youth, visitors included Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton. He also credits Billy Eckstine as a major influence.
After a possible career with the NFL was shelved due to a hand injury, Cole began playing and singing in Chicago clubs as a teenager. Although he was ready to hit the road at 18 years old, his mother intervened and he continued his musical education at the Roosevelt Institute in Chicago.
Cole moved to New York in 1951, where he studied at the Juillard School of Music and found himself profoundly influenced by John Lewis, Oscar Peterson and Teddy Wilson. He got a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music and then spent several months on the road as a member of an Earl Bostic band that also included Johnny Coles and Benny Golson.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 13, 2004. Read the original PDF.