Nat King Cole -Penthouse Serenade

Appearing at a time when for the grand public Nat King Cole was more of a singer and entertainer than a jazz pianist, this album was a reminder of Nat’s superlative skills as an instrumentalist. For the remainder of his successful career –which ended with his sudden death in 1965 due to lung cancer– he continued singing more and more, and playing less and less. This splendid instrumental album was to be one of his last hits as a pianist (as opposed to a singer and entertainer), presenting the classic Nat King Cole Trio plus his usual collaborator Jack Costanzo. The original Penthouse Serenade album, issued in 1952, was a 10” LP and consisted of the first four tracks on each side. It was reissued in 1955 adding four tracks from a new quartet session on which Lee Young replaced Bunny Shawker on drums. That’s the configuration of the album presented here.