The Shedd Institute presents Randy Napoleon Trio in a celebration of the historic contributions of Nat “King” and Freddy Cole.
Legendary singer/pianist Nat "King" Cole (1919-65) introduced many of our most beloved standards to the public. Nat's younger brother, jazz singer/pianist Freddy Cole (1931-2020) paralleled Nat's career with his own, which spanned over 70 years. Randy, who was Freddy's guitarist for 13 years up to his death, related to Jeremy Goodwin of the Boston Globe in 2013 "Freddy just glides through life. He's got a lot of patience, warmth, a great sense of humor. The music is really inseparable from the person...One of the things that makes Freddy really great is his elegance and careful, judicious editing. He doesn't play a lot of notes on piano, but the ones he plays really do make the band feel great. They're melodic, it swings, and that's it. He doesn't feel you need a lot of extra, fancy stuff."
Presented in the classic guitar trio format (with Alan Jones on drums & Louie Leager on bass), Napoleon reimagines popular songs associated with the Cole School.