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Centennial Cole

by Orice Jenkins

/
1.
Let there be you Let there be me Let there be oysters Under the sea Let there be wind An occasional rain Chile con carne Sparkling champagne Let there be birds To sing in the trees Someone to bless me Whenever I sneeze Let there be cuckoos A lark and a dove But first of all, please Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be birds To sing in the trees Someone to bless me Whenever I sneeze Let there be cuckoos A lark and a dove But first of all, please Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be love Yes, Lord Let there be love
2.
Mona Lisa 05:08
Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you You're so like the lady with the mystic smile Is it only 'cause you're lonely they have blamed you? For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile? Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? Or is this your way to hide a broken heart? Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep They just lie there, and they die there Are you warm? Are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art? Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? Or is this your way to hide a broken heart? Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep They just lie there, and they die there Are you warm? Are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art? Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
3.
Birmingham 04:15
The hoods don't like us 'cause we're from the hood We try to fight them 'cause they ain't no good The time has now come for me to take a stand They knocked down King Cole in Birmingham They really think they're slick with their silly red line They want us to believe that things will change with time We have to tell our young don't believe the man Because of what happened down in Birmingham Moved to Chicago to get away They still tried to play me in a city way I won't dare forget who I am But I ain't going back to Birmingham Headed out west to Los Angeles Maybe there's a place that I can do what I please The neighbors killed my dog with a poison Sure sounds like I'm down in Birmingham Made my own way onto network prime time Afraid of the dark, they wouldn't give me a dime Had to through my baby into a can Because of stubbornness like in Birmingham My own people try to say I never did a thing They don't know how much I gave to Dr. King They thought all I cared about was Uncle Sam I'm sort of thinking to keep you in Birmingham Now I hope the natives down in Alabama, yes They probably ain't the worst but they certainly ain't the best The South was a fine place, but I ain't a fan Of things they do down in Birmingham Now I'm dead and gone and things ain't changed Now I'm dead and gone and things are still the same Now I'm dead and gone, oh man, oh man Remember what they did to me in Birmingham Woah, Birmingham is Birmingham America is Birmingham Do the very best, the best that you can To find your way down in Birmingham Birmingham is Birmingham America is Birmingham Do the very best, the best that you can To find your way down in Birmingham
4.
Nature Boy 05:00
There was a boy A very strange, enchanted boy They say he travelled very far Very far, over land and sea A little shy and sad of eye But very wise was he And then one day One magic day he passed my way And as we spoke of many things Fools and kings This he said to me: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return" There was a boy A very strange, enchanted boy They say he travelled very far Very far, over land and sea A little shy and sad of eye But very wise was he And then one day One magic day he passed my way And as we spoke of many things Fools and kings This he said to me: "The greatest thing that you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return" And then one day One magic day he passed my way And as we spoke of many things Fools and kings This he said to me: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return" In return In return In return In return In return To be loved In return
5.
Stardust 04:47
And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the meadows of my heart High up in the sky the little stars climb Always reminding me that we're apart You wandered down the lane and far away Leaving me a song that will not die Love is now the stardust of yesterday The music of the years gone by Sometimes I wonder why I spend The lonely nights Dreaming of a song The melody haunts my reverie And I am once again with you Though all of us knew And each kiss an inspiration But that was long ago And now my consolation Is in the stardust of a song Beyond a garden wall When stars are bright You are in my arms The nightingale tells a fairytale Of paradise where roses grew Though I dream in vain In my heart it will remain My stardust melody A memory of love's refrain
6.
If I expected love when first we kissed Blame it on my youth If only just for you I did exist Blame it on my youth I believed in everything Like a child of three You meant more than anything You meant all the world to me If you were on my mind all night and day Blame it on my youth If I forgot to eat and sleep and pray Blame it on my youth If I cried a little bit When first I learned the truth Don't blame it on my heart Blame it on my youth
7.
The very thought of you and I forget to do Those little ordinary things that everyone ought to do I'm living in a daydream I'm happy as a king And foolish as it may seem To me that's everything The mere idea of you, the longing here for you You'll never know how slow these moments go till I am near to you I see your face in every flower Your eyes in stars above It's just the thought of you The very thought of you, my love The mere idea of you, the longing here for you You'll never know how slow these moments go till I am near to you I see your face in every flower Your eyes in stars above It's just the thought of you The very thought of you, my love
8.
For all we know we may never meet again Before you go make this moment sweet again We won't say goodnight until the last minute I'll hold out my hand and my heart will be in it For all we know this may only be a dream We come and we go like the ripples on a stream So love me tonight; tomorrow was made for some Tomorrow may never come for all we know We know Oh, for all we know We know, we know, we know We know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know For all we know For all we know, we know, we know This may be, this may be our last chance For all we know For all we know
9.
Smile 04:18
Smile though your heart is aching Smile even though it's breaking When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by If you smile through your fear and sorrow Smile and maybe tomorrow You'll see that sun come shining through for you Light up your face with gladness And hide every trace of sadness Although a tear may be ever so near That's the time you must keep on trying Smile, what's the use of crying? You'll see that life is still worthwhile If you just smile Light up your face with gladness And hide every trace of sadness Although a tear may be ever so near That's the time you must keep on trying Smile, what's the use of crying? You'll find that life is worthwhile If you just smile If you just smile Everything's gonna be alright if you just smile Everything's gonna be alright Don't you know you got to smile
10.
Inseparable 02:40
Inseparable That's how we'll always be Inseparable Just you and me It's so wonderful To know you'll always be around me Incredible What you are to me Incredible You bring out the human in me With your style of love Inseparable Yes, we are We're like a flower to a tree Like words to a melody of love There's no way we could break up No words that can make us blow our thing We're just Inseparable That's just how it is Inseparable For the rest of our years It's so wonderful To know you'll always be around

about

Vocalist Orice Jenkins Celebrates 100th Birthday
of Legendary Singer/Pianist Nat “King” Cole
on Heartfelt New Album Centennial Cole

Available September 20 via
Truth Revolution Recording Collective

Album Combines Classic & Modern Jazz with Classical Influences to Pay Homage to Iconic Performer

Given the substantial impact he had on the music and culture of his time, it can be shocking to remember that Nat “King” Cole only lived to the age of 45. March 17, 2019 marked the 100th anniversary of Cole’s birth in Montgomery, Alabama; to celebrate, vocalist, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Orice Jenkins will release Centennial Cole, a deeply personal tribute to the legendary pianist and singer that reinterprets songs immortalized by Cole with modern jazz and classical influences.

Due out September 20, 2019 via Truth Revolution Recording Collective, Centennial Cole features Jenkins’ soulful vocals, which share Cole’s gift for moving fluidly between a wide variety of genres, with the Hartford string quartet Cuatro Puntos and a gifted cast of musicians including pianist Zaccai Curtis, bassists Frank Brocklehurst and Matt Dwonszyk, guitarist Susan Mazer, drummers Chuck Peterson and Jocelyn Pleasant, and percussionist Alvin Carter, Jr.

“Nat ‘King’ Cole changed the trajectory of the music world multiple times during his short life,” Jenkins writes in the album’s liner notes. “As a singer, composer, arranger, and Black American, I am proud to do my part in preserving [his] legacy.”

If it were only for his musical output, Nat “King” Cole would still be considered an iconic artist today. But in addition to releasing a steady stream of still-beloved hits over the course of his 25-year career, Cole was a Civil Rights pioneer, leading the way by example for later generations of African-American artists. His revered trio became the measuring stick for small jazz ensembles that followed in its wake. He directly inspired legends such as Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and his own daughter, Natalie Cole, along with countless other musicians.

“It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that I’m a huge Nat Cole fan, given that we both worked successfully as pianists before the world realized our true calling,” Jenkins says. “We are both baritones, which is unfortunately uncommon in the modern pop music world. Nat is one of the few singers that I could look at to hear and see myself... Nat’s perfect pitch, creative arrangements, flashy piano playing, and legendary collaborations greatly influenced my musical palate.”

Centennial Cole opens with Jenkins’ intimately swinging take on “Let There Be Love,” a song that he discovered after watching Cole’s 1963 BBC television special. Jenkins sings the tune a cappella, accompanied only by the snap of his fingers. Though it’s been recorded countless times, “Mona Lisa” is synonymous with Nat “King” Cole. Taking his cue from Cole’s own revolutionary use of strings on his recordings, Jenkins enlists Cuatro Puntos to radically reimagine the piece.

Jenkins sings directly from Cole’s perspective on “Birmingham,” the album’s sole original composition. The protest song recounts an incident that occurred in the titular Alabama city in 1956, when members of the North Alabama Citizens Council, a local faction of the Ku Klux Klan, assaulted and attempted to kidnap Cole on stage. “Nat passed away before the end of the Civil Rights Movement, but I imagined that he could’ve written a song like ‘Birmingham’ if he made it to the 70s,” Jenkins says.

The djembe playing of Alvin Carter, Jr. adds an African undercurrent to the “hippie anthem” of Eden Ahbez’s classic “Nature Boy,” inline with what Jenkins calls his determination to remain “unapologetically Black at all times.” Jenkins then sits down at the piano, for the first time on record since his 2014 debut Around the Piano, for a closing-time rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust.”

Jenkins takes the title of Oscar Levant and Edward Heyman’s “Blame It on My Youth” quite literally, returning to an arrangement originally penned for his high school orchestra, reduced for string quartet. A tribute to Jenkins’ mother, it’s the first of three family dedications: “The Very Thought of You” is an homage to his great-grandmother, while the tender “For All We Know” is dedicated to Cole’s mother, Perlina Adams Coles.

Driven by Frank Brocklehurst’s electric bass groove, Jenkins’ funky arrangement of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” (a song whose lyric version was premiered by Cole) effectively closes out the set, before the epilogue of “Inseparable,” the title track from Natalie Cole’s 1975 debut album. The song is a soulful send-off to lost loved ones and musical heroes, as well as the family of musicians who helped Jenkins realize the album.

It’s been well over 50 years since Nat “King” Cole’s passing, yet his influence remains strong as generations pass. With Centennial Cole, Orice Jenkins helps ensure that Cole’s indelible genius will live on into the next century.

credits

released September 20, 2019

MUSICIANS
Orice Jenkins - vocals (1-10), arrangements (1-10), finger snaps (1), Wurlitzer (3 & 9), piano (5 & 10), Rhodes (9), guitar (9)
Warren Amerman - engineer, mixing, mastering (1-10)
Allan Ballinger - cello (2, 4, 6, 8)
Kevin Bishop - viola (2, 4, 6, 8)
Frank Brocklehurst - bass (3, 7, 9)
Aaron Packard - violin (2, 4, 6, 8)
Jocelyn Pleasant - drums (3, 7, 9)
Annie Trepanier - violin (2, 4, 6, 8)

SPECIAL GUESTS
Alvin Carter, Jr. - djembe (4)
Zaccai Curtis - piano (7)
Matt Dwonszyk - bass (2)
Susan Mazer - guitar (10)
Chuck Peterson - drums (2)

Photography & Graphic Design by Edward LaRose

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