I wanna write music like Nat King Cole

[aimusic]

Ok, I'm gonna re-phrase it all then... I WISH I COULD SING LIKE NAT KING COLE :)hahahahaha!!!!P.s. I hope no1 comes out saying "well actually Brad, it wasn't him singing" because you will shatter my dreams ...

[tedsingingfox]

Apr 29, 2008, 7:14am, mazz wrote:PS: Mel Torme wrote "The Christmas Song"Another one of the GREATEST sets of vocal pipes of all time, IMO. I've seen Mel Torme live and in concert twice. Jaw-dropping, amazing shows, both of them. And, yes, even in February he sings The Christmas Song...claiming to be ahead of the season. (Hope the Vaca is going well, Mazz, AND that you got to meet up with Kelly and Jon...)

[feloniuspunk]

Apr 29, 2008, 7:14am, mazz wrote:Greetings from NYC (on vacation)! Can't help but jump in here. Nat King Cole was an amazing interpreter of songs. He didn't write many, if any, of his own. He sang from the "Great American Songbook" which is mostly, but not exclusively, songs from Broadway musicals from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Writers like Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and so on, all contributed. Musicians like Nat King Cole and Miles Davis, Sinatra, etc. helped make many of those songs standards.Things changed when the Beatles came along and bands started writing their own material. The style of writing of the "standards" is obviously not in style these days (AABA form, etc.) but is still a staple of the jazz repertoire and singers such as Diana Krall are still doing very well, thank you, by reinterpreting those chestnuts.Cheers,MazzPS: Mel Torme wrote "The Christmas Song"That's really it. Nat interpreted great songs written by others. The songs he sang were written well by folks who knew how to put a tune together. Their compositional skills are certainly to be emulated. They knew theory inside out, turnarounds, key changes, great melodies and great lyrics. Timeless music. Music with changes played by musicians who can play changes.

[squids]

Thank you. Well drilled musicians, amazing songs, wonderful arrangers and producers and Nat's voice. I don't care what anyone says, that's about as close to heaven as you can get. I'd have been thrilled to jes sit in on the taping and check out who was doing what.

[mikegoudreau]

I love Nat too !I was with a friend of mine who is a great jazz pianist/teacher a while ago and he had me listen to some recordings of Nat King Cole playing Be-bop on the piano in the late 40s...He knew all that stuff inside and out when it was a new concept...He was one of the greatest singers indeed...But he was also an awesome pianist and WAY ahead of his time. I recently bought the '' Live at the Sands '' album and another thing that we should remember is that he could sing just as well at a live performance...Something that many artists today can't deliver...Yes, Mel Torme wrote '' The Christmas Song '' ( and is one of the greatest singers/scatters of all time ) and Charlie Chaplin wrote '' Smile ''...But when Nat sang them they became timeless ! Couldn't resist adding my 2 cents here !!

[edteja]

So we want to write songs like Nat sang. Not so bad. I'd settle (??) for being able to write like Hoagie Charmichael, especially when he did some of his cowriting things like Georgia On My Mind.

[squids]

Oh, and Do Right. I still do that song. Hoagie, man, he could really write.

[brindabella]

A different phase of the King:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... 2&stream=1

[mewman]

Apr 30, 2008, 7:37am, edteja wrote:So we want to write songs like Nat sang. Not so bad. I'd settle (??) for being able to write like Hoagie Charmichael, especially when he did some of his cowriting things like Georgia On My Mind.The thing is, even if you could write like Hoagy Carmichael, you probably wouldn't have a lot of luck selling your stuff. I read an interview once.... I think it was with Carmichael... in sheet music magazine where he was asked what his favorite song was that he wrote. He replied that he had just finished one the night before that he really liked a lot...one of his best, he thought. He then went on to say that there was no market for his style of song anymore. Don't get me wrong. I know where you guys are coming from. I love standards. But being a jazz musician and seeing how the scene is dying as people move farther and farther away from their appreciation of those old songs, I'm left wondering what place they'll all have in this climate. Maybe what made those guys so great was their ability to capture the spirit of the time so well, so I guess what i'd like to be as a writer is someone who'll be remembered the same way, whether it's Hoagy Carmichael, or Frank Zappa. Still. Nat King Cole......How cool is that!!!!! Mewman

[squids]

Hey mewman,I understand what you're saying. But think about the crooning albums that came out....the torch song stuff that Rondstadt did, then Carly did, etc, etc.....all bringing back stuff with a twist to it to make it new. I think we occasionally revisit those old songs.And honestly? There isn't a vocalist worth her education out there that'll turn down vox tunes like Do Right, Summertime, etc. They make us sound like a million bucks. We may not pack 'em in at the shows but the songs won't die out.