Essential Albums: Nat King Cole’s After Midnight

It was 1956, and Nat King Cole was ready to go back to his roots. Since the Nat King Cole Trio truly broke out in 1946 with their version of The Brown Dots song “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons,” Cole had gradually been doing less and less piano playing, instead focusing on his singing. …

Album Review: Louis Armstrong – Live in Europe

Imagine being dead for almost 50 years, but having left behind such an incredible legacy of material that new releases are still worthy of discussion compared to the best albums of the year. This is the case with Live in Europe, a "new" live album by the legendary Louis Armstrong.