When I Fall In Love

Descripción del álbum

For those who grew up hearing only "Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer," "Unforgettable," and "The Christmas Song" on the radio, with the perception that Nat King Cole was just a legendary pop singer from somewhere in the past, the When I Fall in Love: The One and Only Nat King Cole DVD will open eyes and serve as an informative and entertaining documentary on the jazz pianist and his pioneering TV show. It is so extraordinary that it doesn't need frills, though there are nine pictures in a photo gallery as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French. The 20 selections culled from the television program are presented with narration by Dennis Haysbert and include commentary from wife Maria Cole, twin daughters Timolin and Casey Cole, and musician/brother Freddy Cole, as well as the original writer/producer/director of Nat's TV show, Bob Henry. That mixture of color and black-and-white that helped make The Wizard of Oz such a classic works inadvertently very well here, with the insertion between songs of interviews tracked almost half a century after the precious black-and-white performances first aired nationally on TV. A ten- or 11-year-old Billy Preston has the same mature keyboard style he would take to his work with Sly Stone, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones -- but it is his youthful vocal dueting alongside Nat King Cole that is as endearing as a young Michael Jackson, with respectful commentary from Natalie Cole on the historic coupling. Footage with Ella Fitzgerald, the Mills Brothers, Johnny Mercer, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, Sammy Davis, Jr. (in a splended duet), the Oscar Peterson Trio, and others is simply amazing. And then it hits you that the orchestration is by Nelson Riddle. The enormous star power does not overshadow Nat King Cole; his tremendous presence holds its own and more, the evidence so clear why the man attained such huge and enduring popularity. When I Fall in Love: The One and Only Nat King Cole is a stunning document of one of the greats -- historic, essential, and thoroughly captivating.
© Joe Viglione /TiVo