Harry Belafonte    (1 Mar 1927)
née Harold George Belafonte, Jr.

Celebrated "King of Calypso" of the 1950's, committed humanitarian and social activist, accomplished actor and producer, a clear silky voice, one of the most outstanding performers of late 20th century, a legend!

Harry Belafonte is Jamaican-American (born in Harlem NY to a Jamaican mother and a father from the Caribbean) singer, actor, producer and social activist who was dubbed the "King of Calypso" in the post WWII era when he popularized the Caribbean style of music singing songs such as "The Banana Boat Song" with its familiar Day-O cry and "Matilda" (his signature song).

"One of the most successful African-American pop stars in history, Belafonte's staggering talent, good looks, and masterful assimilation of folk, jazz, and worldbeat rhythms allowed him to achieve a level of mainstream eminence and crossover popularity virtually unparalleled in the days before the advent of the civil rights movement -- a cultural uprising which he himself helped spearhead."  ¹

The end of the 1940's saw Belafonte taking acting classes alongside other future  legends of the big screen such as Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, and Sidney Poitier, while he performed with the American Negro Theatre. He made his mainstream acting debut at the legendary jazz club the Village Vanguard in 1953 and won a Tony award in the next year for his work in the Broadway revue John Murray Anderson's Almanac.  With his leading role in the Otto Preminger film "Carmen", Harry Belafonte shot to stardom.

He released "Matilda" on his Other Folk Favorites album which shot to #3 on the charts.  His next album simply entitled "Belafonte" hit #1, but it was his breakthrough album "Calypso" which broke the

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records being the first LP to sell more than 1 million copies. "The album is number four on Billboard's "Top 100 Album" list for having spent 31 weeks at number 1, 58 weeks in the top ten, and 99 weeks on the U.S. charts " ²

"At the turn of the 1960s, Belafonte became television's first black producer; his special Tonight with Harry Belafonte won an Emmy that same year." ³

"Belafonte spent an increasing amount of the 1970s and 1980s as a tireless humanitarian; most famously, he was a central figure of the USA for Africa effort, singing on the 1985 single "We Are the World." A year later, he replaced Danny Kaye as UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador." ⁴

Genre: calypso, pop, film, production

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("Smile", "Pretend", "A Blossom Fell", "If I May") in collaboration with well-known arrangers and conductors of the time.

Nat King Cole eventually traveled to Cuba and completed three albums in Spanish which were very popular in Latin America.  His last album, L-O-V-E,  released just before his death in 1964 reached #4 on the charts and his 'best of' album went gold in 1968 while his "1957 recording of "When I Fall In Love" topped the UK charts in 1987.

"Cole was inducted into both the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990."

Genre: Vocal jazz, swing, traditional pop, jump blues

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Nat King Cole 
(17 Mar 1919 – 15 Feb 1965)
née Nathaniel Adams Coles

Unforgettably rich and mellow voice with meticulous phrasing, unforgettable words that linger on from generation to generation, unforgettable melodies flowing from the piano by way of his expert fingertips, unforgettably mild manner and engaging nature, unforgettable, Nat King Cole, that's what you are!

Nat King Cole was an immensely popular American (born in Montgomery, Alabama) jazz singer, songwriter and pianist and a highly  acclaimed pop vocalist who is considered one of the most successful pop singers of his generation, ranking the with likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Perry Como, producing hits, touring internationally, having his own radio and television shows, and appearing in films.

Nat King Cole was a classically trained pianist who  first grew in popularity as a jazz pianist then switched to singing and eventually rose to greater fame interpreting pop tunes.  He started out performing in a trio call, the King Cole Trio; "His revolutionary lineup of piano, guitar and bass in the time of the big bands became a popular set up for a jazz trio," and has been been emulated by many great musicians in the years to come.

By the 1940's Nat King Cole found success as a singer with his first big hit "Straighten up and Fly Right" in 1943 (a song that sold half a million copies)  which was followed other great pop hits that established him fully as a star:  "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts roasting on an ...), "Nature Boy" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950), "Too Young" (the #1 song in 1951), and his signature tune "Unforgettable" (1951).  By this time Cole performed with a string orchestra, but he never forgot his jazz roots and did continue to release  jazz albums.  He hosted a popular variety show and received big name artists as guests, and throughout the 1950's, he continued to score hit after hit