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| Commercial Cole | Listening to this album, it is almost impossible to believe that Nat once belonged in the category of jazz "hipsters" in the Forties. The pseudo old fashioned musical backgrounds of "Lazy-Hazy" hark back to the pre-Great War days when the world was apparently a better place (or was it?). But you can't resist singning along with most of the very sunny and happy melodies, in which Cole is supported by a woodblock-and-banjo rhythm section and a mixed choir (with a fantastic bass).
The "My Fair Lady" part of the album is also a far cry from Cole's jazz past and perhaps a slightly less happy choice, for Cole has at times an odd pronuciation of the English language and of course he lacks the essential Englishness in the portrayal of Henry Higgins and Alfred Doolittle. The balads are very well done however and the intimate bossa-nova treatment of "On the Street where You Live" makes a nice change from Vic Damone's belting hit version.
The disc offers a generous amount of listening pleasure for its money. | Written on 26 February 2004 |   |
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