TEA FOR TWO (1957) by Nat King Cole - two different versions

This is a video of Nat King Cole doing two different piano versions of ’Tea for Two’ in 1957 on his ground breaking television show. People forget that as well as a great singer, Nat was a pretty hot piano player. There is also some rare footage around the 1 minute mark of Nat’s playing filmed from above so you can see exactly what he is playing. While both treatments are similar, the solos in the middle appear to be different . Nat being a jazz musician, I guess they were probably improvisations played differently each time. I would be interested in hearing any views from jazz pianists or others comparing the two. We are lucky there is so much of Nat’s trio stuff around, as well as his more popular crooning material. It really allows him to shine along with the bass and guitar. While some tunes are instrumentals, there are many vocals. It’s all good, so you can’t go wrong. See also my slideshow videos for ’When I Take My Sugar To Tea’ by the King