He’s a lucky guy

Young Chang

Freddy Cole picked up the phone from the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo

this week and said, “Moshi Moshi!”

He admitted to knowing only a couple of words in Japanese, “hello”

being one of them. But he loves traveling and performing all over the

world, especially because the jazz baritone and pianist, who is 69, is

anything but quieting down.

The success of his second newest album -- “Merry-Go-Round,” released

in May -- features the tune “Watching You, Watching Me.” Cole considers

this his best-known title today, aside from an older tune called “I Loved

You.” His credits include more than 10 albums and a professional career

that started even before his teenage years.

He will perform at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Jazz

Club this weekend.

“I’m satisfied,” Cole said. “You keep your expectations high but you

live day to day, and I consider myself an extremely lucky person. I’m

blessed that I got the blessing of many people.”

Among these people are such jazz legends as Duke Ellington, Count

Basie, Lionel Hampton and the musicians who influenced him while he

studied at the Juilliard School of Music -- John Lewis, Oscar Peterson

and Teddy Wilson.

And, of course, there’s the family.

His brother, the late Nat “King” Cole, reached legendary stardom. His

niece, Natalie Cole, continued the Cole legacy. Freddy Cole is probably

the third-most famous Cole. But he answered, as he probably has for

countless reporters, that he is not his brother’s shadow.

“If you walk around and live in the shadow and clouds, your mind stays

that way,” Freddy Cole said. “But my mind has never been warped.”

He has a sister and two other brothers. He loves them all equally, and

none more or less than he did Nat Cole.

“I loved and respected my brother, but I’m not my brother, I’m me,” he

said.

While the Cole family was musical and both Freddy and Nat Cole

followed in the tradition, the two have different styles, said Helen

Borgers, the midday jazz host and music director for radio station

KLON-FM (88.1).

“Nat was more of a showman who was interested in entertaining,” she

said. “Freddy is also a good entertainer, but he’s more interested in

social commentary and speaking to the times.”

Borgers appreciates the diversity of Freddy Cole’s music.

“He has a wide range of songs that go back to things like ‘Am I Blue’

to things as topical as ‘Brother, Where Are You?”’ she said.

His songs speak to every kind of person, she added.

In 1991, Freddy Cole released an album titled “I’m Not My Brother, I’m

Me.” It includes a Nat Cole medley with tunes from “Straighten Up and Fly

Right,” “L.O.V.E.,” “Mona Lisa,” “Unforgettable,” “Sweet Lorraine” and

“Nature Boy.”

He experienced international fame in the mid-1970s with a series of

European recordings. The album “One More Love Song” sold at least 500,000

copies in Brazil.

He played in clubs throughout the 1980’s and started recording a slew

of albums later that decade.

He loves jazz and he loves performing. It’s his life, his soul, and

it’s a hard connection to explain.

“You’re a changed person once you get on the bandstand,” Cole said.

FYI

WHAT: Freddy Cole performs for the Jazz Club at Founders Hall

WHEN: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. today and Saturday

WHERE: The Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center

Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $44 and $38

CALL: (714) 740-7878