Spotlight 29 Casino Spotlight Room
Coachella, Calif.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Story by Lisa Robyn Lawrence
Photos by Allen Lawrence and Pat Krause

Still unforgettable ... that’s what Natalie Cole is! To see and listen to this dynamic chanteuse on stage is an experience of breathtaking, classic, elegance. To watch her perform, you would never know that Natalie Cole has just recently recovered from a very intense health challenge, battling the effects of hepatitis C that almost took her from us a little more than one year ago.

Cole, visibly thinner from her recent medical treatments but still radiant, strutted onto the stage to the musical intro for her first song Come Rain or Come Shine. The crowd went wild with adoration. The Pat Rizzo Band, a very tight and elegant “Big Band” sounding group composed of the best talent in the full-horn section, drums, base fiddle, guitar, piano and keyboards. Rizzo’s band provided the exceptional musical fullness for Cole’s beautiful voice. Gail Deadrick for Cole artfully conducted the band. Deadrick is also co-producer of the new CD, “Still Unforgettable.”

Cole delighted her adoring audience with song after song from the great American numbers. One great treat was a new duet with Cole and the voice of her late father, Nat “King” Cole, singing, Walkin’ My Baby Back Home, from her new CD “Still Unforgettable.” There were audible gasps, ahhs and applause of appreciation. You could feel the love during this song from audience to performer to Nat “King” Cole. During her renditions of Paper Moon and Coffee Time (with thanks to Tony Bennett for giving her the idea of singing this song) and the Michael Frank song Tell Me all About it, Cole went into several “scats” that brought vivid memories of the late jazz and blues greats Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Cole really holds her own when it comes to giving a top-notch performance.

Born Feb. 6, 1950, Natalie Maria Cole is the daughter of the late great Nat “King” Cole and Maria Hawkins Ellington Cole, a Duke Ellington Orchestra singer (of no relation to Duke Ellington). Cole is one of five siblings and grew up in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. Cole has an older adopted sister, Carole “Cookie” an adopted brother Nat “Kelly” Cole, and younger twin sisters, Timolin and Casey.

Cole first sang on her late father’s Christmas album at the tender age of 6 and then began performing at the age of 11. When Cole was 15, her father died of lung cancer, and her life took some painful twists and turns. Difficulties at home with her mom, moving, changing universities, living in the public eye and experimenting with drugs all took their toll. Cole went through drug rehabilitation more than two decades ago and just last year had to endure a powerful chemotherapy treatment for hepatitis C that almost took her down. Thankfully she had made it through.

Cole is the epitome of a true professional musical performer. She displayed a very sophisticated sense of power, style and grace. There were no signs of weakness in the evening’s performance.

An influential American singer-songwriter and performer, Cole has eight Grammy Awards to her credit. In her early career, Cole was a successful R&B star. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that she changed her musical direction toward jazz and released her first tribute album to her father, (1991) “Unforgettable ... With Love.” More than 7-million copies sold in the United States alone. Cole won several Grammy Awards — Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. The title track of the album featured the now famous duet with her father, by splicing a recording of his vocals into the track with Natalie. Still sends goose bumps up my arms.

Now Cole, in great part thanks to her son, has found her spiritual foundation and gives of herself to the community as much as her time allows, when she is not touring and performing.

What a nostalgically elegant treat the performance was. Cole is a first rate performer and reminded her audience of that fact. She was thanked by all of us with a very long standing ovation of appreciation accompanied by cheers and shouts of “more.” Cole gave just that in an encore of two more fabulous songs, thanked us all and then strutted off stage.

Adoring fans Susan Champion and Liz Vasquez exclaimed, “Natalie was spectacular, absolutely fantastic and spectacular.” Some dear music friends, Bonggo and Jacqueline Beane were there, and were up and dancing, showing their appreciation. They loved the performance.

Thank you Natalie Cole for shining for us. Thank you Spotlight 29 and staff for continuing to bring top-level entertainment to our valley.

More about Natalie Cole, and sound clips of her new CD “Still Unforgettable,” can be found on her Web site.

See more of the entertainment lineup that Spotlight 29 Casino is bringing to the Coachella Valley.

To see more Pat Krause and Allen Lawrence photos of Natalie Cole’s performance, click here.