Jazz supreme

Freddy Cole and Joe Gransden deck Spivey Hall

Home for the holidays. A cliché, for sure, but a cliché with meaning for two of the town’s jazz luminaries. For trumpeter/singer Joe Gransden, it’s the rare feeling of being a rising star who is still spending a decent amount of time at home, thanks to steady work at local clubs. For Freddy Cole, a pianist/singer approaching legend status, it’s the rare opportunity to play a gig at home.

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Gransden’s gig at Spivey Hall is one of several around town where he’s been able to show just how well his baritone and full retro-bop playing swings in the Christmas spirit of his new CD, I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Already a local fave — Gransden was the CL readers’ pick for best local jazz act in 2005 — the chance to do a holiday CD continues the progress gained from recording, honing his style and getting more name recognition.

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Gransden’s singing and playing can bear an unmistakable resemblance to Chet Baker. Some of Gransden’s recordings carry the sound forward, such as a flawless interpretation of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “This Guy’s in Love With You” from his CD In Grand Style. He keeps advancing his singing, which can go from the wispy Baker-esque voice to a fuller sound that matches the big bands he fronts both on the new CD and an increasing number of gigs.

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It’s his ability to capture the retro feel of his jazz forefathers that has gained him a bigger following and gets him booked by Clint Eastwood to play parties. Few fans are as big as jazz aficionado Eastwood; lest you forget, when he wasn’t playing cops and cowboys, Eastwood produced films on genius beboppers Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.

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When Gransden spoke to CL last month, he was playing in a different manner altogether, scrambling to get a tee time in a week of questionable Atlanta weather. He was prepping for a spot in a pro-am golf tournament — courtesy of Eastwood — out West. He frequently gigs in California and his native New York City, but Gransden does give the locals chances to see him, with regular appearances at places such as Churchill Grounds.

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Cole, who has lived here since the early 1970s, easily could have ended up going through 2006 without a concert in Georgia, were it not for the opportunity to play at Spivey Hall. The hall is acclaimed for its acoustical excellence and is frequently tapped as a site for National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.” “In Europe, there are a lot of nice venues, but Spivey is every bit as good, or better,” Cole says during a Thanksgiving weekend that brought him home from overseas.

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If Cole’s dates in Georgia are limited to an annual Spivey concert, it’s because he’s seen an uptick in demand. His latest CD, Because of You, continues the momentum of attention that’s been building since the 1990s, and a documentary on him is also generating buzz.

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Cole is the younger brother of Nat “King” Cole, but the 12-and-a-half years’ difference in age brought the sibling pianist/singers from Chicago to different styles.

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Born in 1931 into a family in which all five children were musicians, playing for a living was the goal. “Fortunately, I’ve only had one job in my life,” he says, describing his time working at a baby-furniture company in Chicago. The rest of the time — from his first record in 1952 through countless concerts and jazz festivals — has been devoted to a music career that seems like second nature.

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“I came up in the middle of the bebop era; playing in people’s houses, a joint, anywhere,” he says. “It wasn’t all about money, but one thing led to another.” Cole turned his rougher, Billy Eckstine-inspired voice and hard-bop playing into a life that involves, as it does for most jazz long-timers, a steady stream of engagements outside of the United States.

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Tony Bennett’s sound colors Cole’s style to a lesser degree, and Because of You is a CD of Tony Bennett songs. Admirable for its application of Cole’s nightclubby voice into a dozen of Bennett’s favorites, the disc also illuminates the work of saxophonist Houston Pearson. Once in the past, Cole sang through his sibling dynamic head-on: He penned a song titled “I Am Not My Brother, I’m Me.” On Because of You, the relationship is so subtle the uninformed would miss it: a disc of Tony Bennett songs that continue the chain of appreciation Bennett has long held for Nat’s work. Freddy Cole also credits Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan as influences in his singing, pointing out that the scene when he was coming up in the 1950s was much more varied than it is today.

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“Fortunately, we had lots to choose from,” Cole says of his muses. But in being influenced, Cole has become influential himself.

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The story of his career inspired a well-received 2006 documentary, The Cole Nobody Knows, from local filmmaker Clay Walker. So far, the film has had screenings at the Black Maria and Park City Music film festivals, and was nominated for best film at the Atlanta Film Festival.

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While some of the buzz surrounding the film and new CD didn’t pan out when Grammy nominations were announced last week, many who appreciate consummate musicianship keep him in the highest regards.

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Walker, reflecting on the international stops he took with Cole filming the documentary, notes, “He is so loved all over the world. It is amazing and a pleasure to be around him. ... Freddy Cole is one of America’s great, unacknowledged treasures.”

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