I knew jazz. I loved jazz, and I could play jazz. Art Tatum, as I've said, was Big Papa to all us piano players, but… there was one guy who sang and played the piano in a way which changed my life. He influenced me above all others… I couldn't hear him enough. In fact, I followed him for nearly a decade. Musically, I walked in his footsteps until I found a stride of my own… He was my idol: Talkin' 'bout Nat Cole. Folks forget that Nat Cole started out as a piano player, a jazz piano player. Sure, he played pretty tunes and pop melodies, but if he wanted to, he could turn out the blackest blues you'd care to hear. When bop came along later in the forties, he could do that too… I also loved the way he sang, the way he phrased, the way his voice was deep and romantic and sexy. He caressed a ballad, got under it, and stroked it for all it was worth. No one accompanied himself quite like Nat Cole-- that was another thing. You might think playing the accompaniment is easy, but I'm here to tell you it ain't. No, sir; those little fills he ad-libbed behind himself were gems--always tasty, always clean, always inventive as hell… His style wasn't my style--that would come years later--but it was one that put together so much of what I loved: jazz improvisation, pretty melodies, hot rhythms, and an occasional taste of the blues. << less