Nat King Cole: "Hittin' the Ramp" - early-period set from Resonance, rel. Nov. 1, 2019*

This got delivered from Amazon yesterday! Two CDs down and I cannot believe how beautiful it all sounds. I’ll post more as I make my way through it!

Rob

 

I received my box of vinyl this morning and I’ve worked my way through five sides so far. What a beautiful set and the sound is very good and the music exudes pure joy. Thanks to the team for pulling this off. You should be proud of what you’ve done here. I am looking forward to hearing all of this music in time.

 

The alternative 1943 Beautiful Moons Ago sounds like a rehearsal take... I don't think I've heard the Trio this loose before. Very fascinating to me: I'm so glad we have this.

I needed to relax recently, played the 1942 Lester Young session on headphones, and it worked perfectly.

On the first two 1939 instrumentals where Nat doubles on celeste--Two Against One and Moon Song--Oscar's guitar breaks allow Nat to switch over, but on You're My Life, Nat switches seamlessly from celeste to piano, the last celeste note still audible during the first piano note: amazing.

 

Alright! I made it through the entire set and I truly did not want it to end. I can't thank those enough, that were involved, especially at a time when we don't get many Nat releases anymore since the Analogue Productions releases and then the Stardust--The Rare Television Performances (2-CD Set) from 2015.

Thank you, thank you @jtaylor @MLutthans and others I have forgotten. (They are the only two forum handles I can remember off-hand.)

First things first, yesterday, I finished listening to all 7 CDs and later on in the day when I decided to run errands, I found this note on my apartment door (Can't post it on the site because it is not a URL...(rolls eyes))

It reads: Hi! I just wanted to say I really enjoy the music your play. The Jazz is always a great start to my day! <3 - your neighbor E31

Second, I still can not get over how wonderful this music sounds. Some of my favorites include any and all renditions of Black Spider Stomp, Scotchin' with the Soda, There's no anesthetic for love, Stop the red light's on, and the 2/25/1941 set with Anita Boyer on vocals.

Lastly, I've decided to roll right into NKC's Capitol Mosaic set. It seems like a logical extension to me since I can't get enough of the new set.

All the best,
Rob

 

Can't give anything away as things are FAR from being finalized, but if everything comes together Cole fans could be enjoying some previously unreleased (and undocumented) live recordings in the not-too-distant future.

 

My heart just skipped a beat!!!!

 

Could there be any chance of you guys possibly working on a Django Reinhardt set in the future? Would love to hear what you guys could do with that. Thanks

 

Will's book on Cole is now available. He speaks of the "Live" performances that have surfaced in recent years.

 

Will's book?? I am not familiar with it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Straighten-U...&keywords=Nat+King+Cole&qid=1597613593&sr=8-9

 

And possibly one or two others he doesn’t mention.

 

I had to look this one up. There's actually one phrase on vibes in the middle of the intro:

(celeste, celeste, vibes, piano)

Even cooler, I think.

 

I have heard six of the ten lps so far and the pressings have been flawless. The music is so joyful. I don’t listen to much music from this era so I’m pretty uninformed when it comes to this material but I’m really enjoying it. I really like the idea of putting the records in double lp covers. It makes pulling them out easier and safer. I have Keith Jarrett’s Sun Bear box and it’s a little unwieldy having all the lps loose in the box. Again kudos to everyone for doing a great job on everything from sound to design of the packaging.
P.S. Oscar Moore is a revelation and it’s so cool to hear Nat really play the piano with such gusto.

 

I'm on disc 5 of 7 and working through the CD box set. I just searched and located this thread. I'm very happy this thread exists, and looking forward to reading through Mr. Lutthans and others' comments about the source material and work that went into compiling this. Thanks for all the hard work, and for the posts here. I have more Nat in my collection than any other recording artist, and so glad that 80 years after most of this stuff was recorded people still care enough about it for us to get new releases of the material!

 

Nominated for a Grammy: 2021 GRAMMYs: Complete Nominees List

Congratulations, Matt and Jordan!

 

Incredibly well-deserved!

 

Very well done.
peace and love✌Dave

 

Congratulations, Indeed!!!!

 

2021 GRAMMY NOMINEE: NAT KING COLE! We're ecstatic to announce that our
Nat King Cole
box set "Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943)" is a 2021 Grammy Nominee for "Best Historical Album." We'd like to thank Seth Berg and the Nat King Cole Estate for giving Resonance the opportunity to work with the family on this great release; plus our host of talented co-producers on the project: Zev Feldman, Will Friedwald (who wrote liner notes, and the new biography "Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole"), Jordan Taylor and engineer Matthew Lutthans; our designer John Sellards, production manager Zak Shelby-Szyszko, package editor Dan Forté, publicist Ann Braithwaite, and many, many others who all pitched in to create something truly special.

CONGRATS! Well deserved!!!!!

 

This might be one of the very few Grammy nominations that I am actually excited about. What a beautiful box set collection and so gorgeously remastered by our very own @MLutthans!

 

Are you doing to "attend" the ceremony?