The James Logan Courier

Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole (March 17, 1919 ?– February 15, 1965) was a popular American singer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.

Childhood and Chicago
Nathaniel Adam Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama. His birth date, according to the World Almanac, was on St. Patrick's Day in 1919. Other sources had his birth date in 1917. His father was a butcher and a deacon in the Baptist church. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois while he was still a child. There, his father became a minister; Nat's mother Perlina was the church organist. Nat learned to play the organ from his mother until the age of 12, when he began formal lessons. His first performance, at age four, was of "Yes, We Have No Bananas." He learned not only jazz and gospel music, but European classical music as well, performing, as he said, "from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Rachmaninoff."

Listen to singer/pianist Bobby Short, Natalie Cole, and Johnny Collins talk about the racial injustice Nat endured in Las Vegas, one of several audio clips regarding Cole's life included in a National Public Radio feature on Cole.

LUNCH
Salsa Bar at the Creations booth! Pizza, Chinese, grill items such as burgers & chicken strips, deli sandwiches and, of course, burritos!

MISCELLANEOUS
Off Campus Fremont ROP Students: DON’T FORGET YOU HAVE ROP CLASSES ON FRIDAY! Buses will run on their regular schedule. Should you choose not to go, consider it a CUT unless cleared by your parent with a medical or other authorized excuse.

Attn. Students: Anyone illegally parked in a staff parking space (the ones with the yellow lines) will be cited starting February 11, 2009.

From wikipedia
Jimmy Smith, nicknamed "The Incredible Jimmy Smith", (December 8, 1925 – February 8, 2005) was a jazz musician whose Hammond B-3 electric organ performances helped to popularize this instrument.

Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA. Smith was influenced by both gospel and blues. He first achieved prominence in the 1950s when his recordings became popular on jukeboxes. In the sixties and seventies he helped create the jazz style known as 'soul jazz'.

Hear a radio tribute to Jimmy Smith, which includes a brief interview with Smith done shortly before his death and samples of his music, broadcast on the day he died as part of the show "All Things Considered," free from NPR.org.

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