La feria de las flores

As you delve into *La Feria De Las Flores*, you come across a track that Nat King Cole recorded in Mexico City for his 1962 album, *More Cole Español*. This song, which runs 1:49, is part of the artist’s third and final Spanish-themed album, a series that began with *Cole Español* in 1958 and continued with *A Mis Amigos* in 1959. What’s interesting about this period is that, according to reviews from the time, although Cole was still working on his Spanish pronunciation, it was clear that he was enjoying the experience much more on *More Cole Español*. That joy and that sense of connection with the music are evident in every note of the album, which was arranged by Ralph Carmichael.

To understand the path that led Nat King Cole to explore these sounds, we must go back to his origins. Born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery in 1919, his family moved to Chicago, where his father, Edward Coles, was a minister at the Baptist Church. It was there that his mother, Perlina Adams, the church organist, became his sole piano teacher, instilling in him not only jazz and gospel but also classical music. He grew up in the vibrant Bronzeville neighborhood, famous for its nightlife and jazz clubs in the late 1920s. In those venues, Nat absorbed the influence of greats like Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines. Inspired by Hines, he began his career as a teenager in the mid-1930s. At that time, he adopted the name Nat Cole, and his older brother, Eddie, a bassist, accompanied him on his first recording in 1936. Together, they achieved some success in Chicago’s clubs, and it was on one of those stages that he was given the nickname “King.” After a tour as a pianist with Eubie Blake that took him to Long Beach, California, Nat decided to settle there, bringing with him that rich musical heritage that would later inspire him to record such special albums as those dedicated to Spanish-language music.