Kevin Cole
"You are about to hear the best living Gershwin pianist in the world"
-Ben Zander, Conductor, Boston Philharmonic
By Barbara Brill

This is The Kevin Cole, the man who has been called "the world's best living Gershwin pianist since Gershwin himself" by the renowned Gershwin scholar, the late Edward Jablonski. "No one can touch him," he said.

This is The Kevin Cole, the man Howard Reich, the arts critic for the Chicago Tribune, praises. "When Cole sits down at the piano, you would swear George Gershwin himself was at work. Cole stands as the best Gershwin pianist in America today."

This is The Kevin Cole, the man Daniel Cariaga of the Los Angeles Time wrote about in his review: "The virtuosic Cole made his Hollywood Bowl debut in an audacious, ear-opening performance of "Rhapsody in Blue." ... At the end, a bowlful of Gershwin lovers hollered with approval."

This is The Kevin Cole, the man who was introduced to the audience during his seventh performance with the Boston Philharmonic by conductor Ben Zander with these words: "You are about to hear the best living Gershwin pianist in the world." And, this is The Kevin Cole, who as a young man, was told by Irving Berlin after he finished playing a Berlin medley: "Jesus Christ, kid, if I could play like that, I would never have been a songwriter."

For his third year in a row, Cole, a Steinway artist and Gershwin expert, will be performing at the festival, a benefit for the historical Star Theatre, 402 North Coast Highway in Oceanside.

"Kevin is the only quintuple threat I have the pleasure of knowing -- singer, composer, conductor, arranger and brilliant pianist," said Martin, who also was a vocal coach for Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra. "He has grown artistically in a way I have seldom seen. When I first heard him at the piano 10 years ago, I was dazzled by his pyrotechnics. But, it has surprised and delighted me to find that every year since, I have found in his work greater depth, subtlety and musicality," Martin commented in April. And, for Cole's just released CD, "Cole Plays Gershwin," Martin said: It is "the best piano album I have ever heard. It's stunning".

Martin also praises Cole as a singer. "Very seldom do I hear something to perfection. His key is perfect. He's one of the great male pop singers of all times."

Cole, a Chicago resident who grew up in Bay City, Michigan, where he began playing the piano at age 5, is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy.

He has performed in Portugal and England and around the nation, including appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Pops, the Minnesota Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Boston Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, to name a few.

And, he has opened for Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band, has shared a concert evening with Broadway musical legend Barbara Cook, has played at the requests of people like Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley, Muhammed Ali and members of the Gershwin and Jerome Kern families, has won countless awards as music director and archivist, and has recorded four discs for Yamaha's Disklavier pianos.

There's no doubt that Cole dazzles his audiences. They roar after hearing his exhilarating, brilliant, miraculous, emotional and powerful performances. And, all the while they wonder whether he was made for the piano or if the piano was made for him.

During the last few years, Cole has been one of the most sought out performers, and it's not surprising, since he can be described in the same words that have often been used for George Gershwin: vibrant, dynamic, honest and charming.

For more information about Cole, check his web site at: kevincoleonline.com

Featured in South Coast Magazine Festival 2004