Natalie Cole News

The Coachella Valley Repertory (CVRep), now settled into its newly renovated 210 seat playhouse in Cathedral City, has announced it will remain open throughout the hot summer months to present an exciting line-up of one night only summer performances beginning in June, 2019.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts:

Blake Allen's hit An Evening With... Series, which plays bi-monthly at The Green Room 42, is releasing an album of acoustic arrangements from their first season entitled An Evening With... Volume 1 on April 26, 2019 on all platforms. Physical copies will also be for sale before the general public at the next installment of the series on April 25: Nat 'King' and Natalie Cole.

Birdland has announced its upcoming May program!

Lively McCabe Entertainment Co-President Michael Barra proudly announces a slate of three new stage musicals in partnership with licensing agency Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW) and music powerhouse BMG. These initial three projects, all which will have premiere productions in 2020 (TBA), will feature select music from the BMG catalog, as part of their previously announced partnership with Lively McCabe.

Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love, Chris Botti has become the largest-selling American instrumental artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music. His ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums, as well as multiple Gold and Platinum records and Grammy Awards.The McCallum Theatre welcomes the return of Grammy Award winner Chris Botti on Friday, April 12, at 8:00pm and Saturday, April 13, at 8:00pm.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Annual Benefit Concert, the School's largest fundraising event of the year taking place on Sunday March 31, 2019, will feature 2019 Grammy award winner John Patitucci and his Jazz Trio. The concert will include special appearances by advanced HBMS jazz and chamber music students. The event will be held in the main sanctuary of the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale.

Boston Ballet's 2018-2019 spring season opens with Full on Forsythe, a program that showcases the many facets of acclaimed choreographer William Forsythe with three of his works including Playlist (EP), Forsythe's first world premiere created on an American company since 1992, the North American premiere of Blake Works I, and the return of Pas/Parts 2018. Full on Forsythe runs March 7-17 at the Boston Opera House.

Singer/Songwriter/Producer Joseph Lorenzo has recorded a new version of 'Mr. Melody', the 1976 hit by Natalie Cole.

Keb' Mo' returns to the Peace Center on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Young multi-instrumentalist and blues tunesmith Jontavious Willis is scheduled to open the show.

The acclaimed JazzMN Orchestra will hold its final concert of the season on April 8th, 2019 on Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' Main Stage. The concert marks its season finale, also marking JazzMN's 20th anniversary celebration event.

In this electrifying exploration into the soul of an American icon, Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor imagine Nat 'King' Cole as he faces the final Christmastime broadcast of his groundbreaking variety show and weighs the advice of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. to 'go out with a bang.' Cole's hit songs, such as 'Nature Boy,' 'It's a Good Day' and 'Smile,' underscore this boldly original homage to the renowned performer who struggled to break through America's color barrier in the early days of television.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole/book by Colman Domingo & Patricia McGregor/music supervision:John McDaniel/directed by Patricia McGregor/Geffen/Gil Cates Theater/through March 17 A much anticipated musical in Los Angeles has been Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole, which has received previous tryouts back east. Penned by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, who also directs the piece, the show is supposedly based on real facts from Cole's life and includes most of his standard hits arranged by John McDaniel. Currently onstage at the Gil CatesTheater of the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, Lights Out is spectacular entertainment, especially from Dule Hill as Cole and Daniel J. Watts as Sammy Davis Jr. but its book is in need of some major retooling. It is December 17, 1957 in the NBC Studio in Burbank where Cole's final  30 minute TV variety show is about to be presented live with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and Randy Van Horn Singers. Fifteen minutes to air time, Cole is in a deep state of depression over this being the final show. Why? He has millions of fans. Southern states have refused to continue paying for advertising on the show. Cole is a Negro, pure asnd simple. In spite of his fame, it's Lights Out for him. Guest star Peggy Lee has not shown up and friend Sammy Davis Jr. comes in to replace her with his amazing style of frantic comed

Tony-nominated Broadway actress Loretta Ables Sayre returns to Blue Note Hawaii in Waikiki on Feb. 24, with a show at 8 p.m. Ables Sayre's performance will feature jazz standard selections from the Great American Songbook. Joining Loretta will be Hawaii-based musicians Jim Howard on piano, Dean Taba on bass and Darryl Pellegrini on drums.

Combining the big band swing of the 1930s and '40s with contemporary music, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band has become an international phenomenon, developing a reputation as one of the most innovative and versatile big band collectives in the last thirty years. On Sunday, March 10 at 4pm, Gordon Goodwin will bring his exciting Big Phat Band to Chapman University for a very special afternoon opened with a short set by the Chapman University Student Big Band. 

Director Patricia McGregor returns to the Geffen Playhouse after her successful directorial stint of Dominique Morriseau's SKELETON CREW last year. This time, Patricia directs the west coast premiere of LIGHTS OUT: NAT 'KING' COLE (now, already in previews), co-written by herself and Coleman Domingo. Patricia took some time after a long day of rehearsals to chat with me over the phone.

GHOSTLIGHT DELUXE, an imprint of Ghostlight Records, has announced the release of For Centennial Reasons: 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole - the new album from the JOHN PIZZARELLI TRIO - in physical, digital and streaming formats today, Friday, February 8. Following high-profile collaborations with Sir Paul McCartney and Michael McDonald, Pizzarelli returns to his roots to honor his hero, the legendary jazz/pop vocalist and pianist Nat King Cole, whose centennial is being celebrated around the world this year with various concerts, books and recordings. For Centennial Reasons completes an epic trio of Pizzarelli albums saluting Cole, starting with Dear Mr. Cole, which helped put Pizzarelli on the map as an influential jazz guitarist and singer in 1994, and continuing with P.S. Mr. Cole, which cemented his legacy five years later. To order the album, please visit ghostlightrecords.lnk.to/pizzarelli-natkingcole