Steve Cole
Encyclopedia
Steve Cole is an American
tenor
saxophonist
who has released five albums starting in the late 1990s throughout the 2000s. Most of his albums have been well-received, earning him several awards. He is also a professor/adviser of music business at Columbia College Chicago
.
, Illinois
and began to play music at a young age. At first, he trained classically, following in his father's footsteps with the clarinet
before switching to the saxophone in high school. While at Northwestern University
, he studied classical saxophone before changing his field to economics
, eventually earning an MBA from The University of Chicago. After leaving school, Cole returned his focus to music; in particular, jazz
.
In a 2003 interview with JazzNation, Cole describes how he started his career:
In 2000 his first solo album Stay Awhile won him the Prism Award for Best New Artist at the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards. He was also a winner of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
's annual young artists competition, allowing him the honor of performing with the orchestra.
In 2001 he hit the charts with the Grover Washington, Jr.
& Bill Withers
classic "Just The Two of Us" from the star-studded tribute album "To Grover, with Love", produced by renowned keyboardist/arranger/producer Jason Miles. The album eventually made # 4 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums. The track covered fantastically by Regina Belle, Steve Cole and George Duke is still on the playlist of many jazz radio stations and has become a jazz classic.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
who has released five albums starting in the late 1990s throughout the 2000s. Most of his albums have been well-received, earning him several awards. He is also a professor/adviser of music business at Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
.
Early career and education
Cole was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and began to play music at a young age. At first, he trained classically, following in his father's footsteps with the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
before switching to the saxophone in high school. While at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, he studied classical saxophone before changing his field to economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, eventually earning an MBA from The University of Chicago. After leaving school, Cole returned his focus to music; in particular, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
In a 2003 interview with JazzNation, Cole describes how he started his career:
"I started playing pop music, R&B, be-bop, all that stuff, playing clubs in Chicago until 4 o’clock in the morning for many years. You know, just doing that kind of thing, then started doing some commercial music, radio and TV stuff. Then I started thinking about getting in to some other types of music. I met some great people here in Chicago, Brian CulbertsonBrian CulbertsonBrian Culbertson is a musician and instrumentalist from Decatur, Illinois, United States. Son of jazz band director and trumpeter Jim Culbertson, Brian's instruments include the keyboard and trombone....
, a guy named Bob Mamet, an Atlantic Records recording artist, a while ago, and started getting on the road and playing as a side man for those guys and eventually was able to do it on my own."
In 2000 his first solo album Stay Awhile won him the Prism Award for Best New Artist at the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards. He was also a winner of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
's annual young artists competition, allowing him the honor of performing with the orchestra.
In 2001 he hit the charts with the Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
& Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
classic "Just The Two of Us" from the star-studded tribute album "To Grover, with Love", produced by renowned keyboardist/arranger/producer Jason Miles. The album eventually made # 4 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums. The track covered fantastically by Regina Belle, Steve Cole and George Duke is still on the playlist of many jazz radio stations and has become a jazz classic.
Present career
Cole's second album Between Us resulted in a #1 hit with the track Got It Goin’ On and the single Thursday from the album, Spin, reached the Top 20 in the radio charts. Spin was well-received by critics with a score of 4.5/5.0 [] at Allmusic - the same score held by Between Us and NY LA.[]Discography
- Stay Awhile (1998)
- Between usBetween Us (Steve Cole Album)Between Us is a 2000 album by jazz musician Steve Cole. It features two number one hits in Got it Goin' On and From the Start. Cole's cover of the TLC song Waterfalls also received rave reviews from Billboard Magazine...
(2000) - NY LANY LANY LA is a 2003 album by jazz musician Steve Cole. It features keyboards by Brian Culbertson and Marquis Dair and also vocals by Mauli B. It is Steve Cole's third studio album and reached as high as number six on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums List....
(2003) - Spin (2005)
- True (2006)
- The Sax Pack (2008)
- The Pack Is Back (2009)
- Moonlight (2010)