Natalie Cole

When Natalie Cole’s seminal Unforgettable…With Love came out in 1991, the jazz collection set a new standard for reinventing the Great American Songbook. The CD, which captured 6 Grammys, including Album and Record of The Year, spent five weeks at No. 1 and sold more than 8 million copies in the U.S. alone. Yet instead of exploiting the moment and rushing out a second volume, Cole thoughtfully took a step back, devoted herself to several other projects including her riveting autobiography, and waited until she felt ready to return to the songs that fulfill her heart and soul.

Natalie released her follow up Still Unforgettable in 2009, and the album won two Grammys, one for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and one for Best Instrumental Accompanying Vocalist. It also earned Cole an NAACP Award for Best Jazz Artist.

Still Unforgettable, a co-venture between Natalie, DMI Music and Rhino/WEA, showcases Cole’s supple voice singing 14 standards. On this, her 21st studio album, Cole also took the reins for the first time as producer. Just as she partnered with her late father, the legendary Nat “King” Cole, for a posthumous duet on the “Unforgettable” title track on the 1991 masterpiece, this time the father daughter pair reunited on the delightful “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home,” first recorded by Nat in the early-1950s.

“If there was going to be another ‘duet’ with dad, I felt it should be something more whimsical, fun and light,” Cole says. “At the same time, I was looking for a song that would also be familiar to audiences.”

Still Unforgettable combines much-beloved classics such as “The Best is Yet to Come,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Nice ‘n’ Easy” with great songs that Cole discovered for the first time, such as “Coffee Time,” a recommendation from Tony Bennett. “Every single one of these songs was a challenge to sing because the original performances are so iconic,” Cole says. “It was difficult to find a way to approach each one without losing the essence of what makes them so great.”

Before she captured 1975’s Best New Artist Grammy, Cole appealed to fans and critics alike with her versatility as an R&B, Pop and Jazz singer of the first order. Her canon includes such No. 1’s as “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love),” “Inseparable,” “Our Love,” “I’ve Got Love on My Mind,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Miss You Like Crazy.”

The 9-time Grammy winner continues to astonish with her vocal dexterity and her intimate, knowing way with a lyric and a melody. Those talents will be on display as Cole continues to tour to promote Still Unforgettable: “I still love recording and still love the stage, but like my dad, I have the most fun when I’m in front of that glorious orchestra or that kick-butt big band.”