I was playing “Unforgettable” at the hospital some weeks
ago, and a passerby stopped to listen. He asked if I ever sang while playing,
and I answered, “Not if I can help it.” He told me Nat King Cole was originally
a jazz pianist. He was hired by a nightclub, and when he showed up, the manager
asked what he’d be singing. He replied that he was a pianist, not a singer. And
the manager said, “If you don’t sing, you don’t have a job.” The fellow looked
me in the eye and said, “Can you imagine? What if no one ever forced Nat King
Cole to sing?” I looked for online evidence this story’s true. Nat King Cole’s
mother taught him to play piano. His first performance was “Yes We Have No
Bananas” at age four. But the nightclub manager who insisted on vocals might be
a myth. Either way, I’m still not singing while I play.
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