JAMM PRESENTS our Spring Fundraiser Concert featuring Jazz Guitarist, Randy Napoleon and Jazz Singer, Melissa Morgan. Get your advance tickets HERE for either the 7:00 or 9:00 show on Saturday April 20th. Act now to make sure you get a seat for this once-in-a-blue-moon pairing of the “soulful and smart” jazz guitar professor and the “interesting, sassy, and sexy” rising star singer.
We’re working on a project that will take a bit of time to complete, so stay tuned!
We are assembling all audio and when available, all video of past JAMM Tributes and other events. We have quite an archive thanks to the work of JAMM Volunteers!
So far, what we appear to be in need of, if you have them, are photographs from some of the Tributes. If you have any, please email a note to jazzjamm2018@gmail.com, to let us know. Don’t just send photos, please. If you have videos as well, write to let us know.
The main Tribute events we need materials for are:
Sandy Izenson and Patti Richards, especially photos. We have audio for both.
It’s great fun to listen to some of these, after all these years! Here’s a teaser for you, from The Second Annual JAMM Tribute to the late Patti Richards. Singing here, Betty Joplin, who was friends with Patti and shares a bit about that here as well.
Freddy Cole at JAMM Fundraiser
Lionel Frederick Cole was born the youngest of Edward and Paulina Nancy Cole’s five children. His three elder brothers, Eddie, Ike and Nat (twelve years Freddy’s senior) were all musicians taught by their mother.
Though Freddy was born in Chicago, he is now a 35-year native son and international celebrity of Atlanta. Freddy moved to New York in 1951, where he studied at the Juilliard 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 Earl Bostic’s band that also included Johnny Coles and Benny Golson. It was back in New York that Freddy successfully laid the groundwork for a career that continues to flourish to this day.
He developed a vast repertoire of songs in Manhattan bistros and concurrently began to supplement his live performances with television and radio commercial work. Freddy recorded several albums for European and English companies during the 1970s that helped him develop a loyal overseas following. Cole believes that becoming an international favorite made him “widen my scope a little bit.”
He developed a stand-up act, a better rapport with audiences, and learned to sing in other languages.
“It made me much more a performer.”
A resident of Atlanta since 1972, he currently leads a quartet on piano and vocals with guitarist Randy Napoleon, bassist Elias Bailey, and drummer Quentin Baxter, that regularly tours the US, Europe, the Far East, South America and South Africa.
Freddy has been a recording artist since 1952, when his first single, “The Joke’s on Me,” was released on an obscure Chicago-based label.While there are certain unmistakable similarities in timbre to his brother Nat, his voice is raspier, smokier, jazzier even. In truth, his phrasing is far closer to that of Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday than that of his brother, and his timing swings even more. His vocals – suave, elegant, formidable, sometimes spoken and articulate – make him the most respected lyrical storyteller in jazz.
Cole’s career continues to ascend as he has moved into the front ranks of America’s homegrown art form with a style and musical sophistication all his own.