A Nat King Cole Christmas
Performed in Omaha
Nat King Cole is one of the best music performers of his era. He performed in Omaha at the Jewel Building (https://northomahahistory.com/2019/11/04/a-history-of-the-jewell-building-and-dreamland-ballroom/).
He did write songs, including “Straighten Up and Fly Right” which he wrote while staying in an Omaha (https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/StraightenUp.pdf).
While some may want to dismiss him as a music man, Cole had a conscience and was one of many Black Americans in the jazz industry to join the Free Masons (https://www.chicofreemasons.org/lodge-news/2016/1/17/black-freemasonry-from-prince-hall-to-the-giants-of-jazz). May I add, Omaha did have a Black Free Mason lodge (https://northomahahistory.com/2022/08/31/a-history-of-the-prince-hall-masons-in-omaha/)?
As for the Civil Rights movement, he did not join until assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama in 1956 (https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/10). Because of this attack, he joined other musicians in boycotting segregated venues (https://www.flapperpress.com/post/unforgettable-the-career-of-trailblazing-entertainer-nat-king-cole). For my parents, who favored the Civil Rights movement, listening Cole was not just good music but a bit of justice.
But what Nat King Cole is well known for are the Christmas songs his group and ensembles sang. My parents, being part of the Greatest Generation, heard his music and it filled my childhood home during Christmas.
To Nat King Cole, God bless you. May you rest in peace, but let your voice reign as a beacon to future generations, especially during Christmas.
And here is list of some favorite hits of his: