2002a

Woman who knows: she has survived grief, rejection, addiction and despair. Now 52 and gaining notice with a brave new jazz-oriented album, Natalie Cole tells Simon Houpt that she's finally learning... Simon Houpt.

NEW YORK -- If you should ever find yourself craving a shot of Oprah but, say, she's on summer hiatus and they're only showing reruns and you've already seen all of those episodes when they first aired, you could do worse than sitting down with Natalie Cole. She'll give you a lifetime's worth of empowering talk in less than an hour.

Oh, you ask skeptically, how could Natalie know what it's like to have problems? From the outside, being a celebrity songstress looks like a dream. Snap your fingers, and you get the best table at any restaurant. Gifts galore. More money than most people could legally earn. Eight Grammy Awards. The love of millions.

But is any of that worth anything if you don't love yourself?

Because for many years, Cole didn't love herself. She was in psychological ruins. "There was a lot of guilt and a lot of fear and a lot of not really knowing who I was, and feeling intimidated," she explains in a girlish voice, nibbling politely on a doughnut. The basis for a person's self-esteem is laid down -- or not -- early in life, she continues, and it can take decades to unlearn bad habits. So even though she's here in this ritzy Upper East Side hotel to talk about her suave new album, Ask a Woman Who Knows, and how it represents a brave new step into an exciting jazz-oriented future, the past hangs like a rain cloud over Cole. And that past wasn't pretty.

Even if you're not much of a Cole fan, you probably know three things about her: first, that she's the daughter of Nat King Cole, the distant but benevolent icon whom she lost to lung cancer when he was only 47 and she was just 15. Second, that after a best-selling disco/R & B career in the 1970s, her Unforgettable easy-listening duet with a recorded archive tape of dad sold 14 million copies in 1991, and brought her to a new generation of fans. And third, that she was a long-time cocaine-and-heroin addict, and came close to death many, many times.

You may not realize that all three of those facts were connected -- that Cole was adrift for so long primarily because she lost her dad at such a young age. She desperately sought approval from the men in her life, and never dared take a stand for herself, for fear of losing their love. "It sounds so small, but you have to understand that a lot of people operate exactly that way," she explains.

"At the end of the day, they probably are the most unhappy people, because they never really got to be heard, they never really got to be understood or just respected for saying no for all the right reasons," she says, flashing eyes bloodshot from staying up late the night before, performing at a benefit concert for breast cancer at Manhattan's Lincoln Center. She's wearing an ill-advised tight black Ice Jeans T-shirt, black jeans and a couple of chunky diamond rings. Her only makeup is a half-hearted smear of red lipstick.

Even six months of full-time therapy in 1983 didn't solve all of her problems. Yes, it got her straight. Her 10th album and her first sober one, somewhat ironically entitled Dangerous, came out in 1985. And she found Jesus. "The interesting thing about being a born-again Christian is that things get worse before they get better," she says with a laugh. "And I notice that also with when I got sober. Same thing. Things got worse before they got better." She looks down at her hands and says wistfully, "That's just the way it is."

So yeah, even though she was off drugs, things got worse. It was another 10 years before Cole learned how to refuse the blame that didn't belong at her feet. Her second marriage collapsed in 1994.

Then, a few years ago, a bright spot. At a church function in Los Angeles, a divorced Baptist bishop named Kenneth DuPree, in town from Nashville, took a fancy to her. They married last October, and Natalie moved in with DuPree and his 14-year-old son. Her son from her first marriage, a 24-year-old drummer, came along to Nashville too. Life looked like it might be settling down. But -- just her luck -- Natalie's career started heating up again. She figures she sees DuPree and the boys only about once a month. It's hard.

But is she happy? "I'd say that I'm happy with the choices that I'm making," Cole says, choosing her words carefully. "I'm better equipped for the choices that I'm making. I think that my happiness is within me and not outside me."

So, all right, she may no longer need external approval, but that doesn't mean that Cole doesn't like to get some love and affection tossed her way every now and again. So a few years back, when her record label Elektra began signing more hip-hop and R & B acts, she began to feel neglected, and wondered if maybe they valued her as much as she felt they should.

"I could see them kind of struggling," she explains. "They didn't really know what to do with me, and I thought, `Oh, this isn't good.' And when you get the old, `Let's do a best-of album,' that's kind of the kiss of death. That means they've basically run out of ideas or run out of money for this kind of marketing, and they really want to put their focus someplace else." (Look at the cover of her 2001 Greatest Hits: Volume 1 album from Elektra, and you'll now understand why she could conjure up only a faint, resentful smile.)

She didn't wait around for the boot. Tommy LiPuma, who had produced three of her albums, including Unforgettable: With Love, called her from his office as chairman at Verve Music Group, and whispered the right sweet nothings.

In January, she signed with the renowned jazz label, and announced she wouldn't be doing R & B any more. She's 52 now, and she doesn't believe a woman of her age should be hopping and bopping around the stage, singing that kind of music and acting like a teenager in heat. It's not respectable.

"Women don't age the same way men do, you know? It's a shame -- things fall! Things fall apart!" she yelps. "We can't stop that process, so I think that you have to kind of anticipate it almost, and start wearing it, and not let it wear you. I don't want to be uncomfortable in my older years. I want to be able to embrace it. But I want to look as good as possible without tuckin' and stuffin' things."

Her new stage persona reflects the music on the new album. Daringly, Ask a Woman Who Knows is full of torch songs and jazz standards that are firmly associated with some heavy hitters, from It's Crazy, made famous by Sarah Vaughan, to My Baby Just Cares for Me, which was essentially trademarked by Nina Simone. Cole acquits herself well on those, and shows an intriguing suppleness on some of the more bluesy tunes, like the Green-Heyman hit, You're Mine You.

After the frivolity of her early years, this material feels like something a woman in her 50s should be singing, she says. "The reason that we have all these oldies-but-goodies stations, and the reason why an album like this can still get even a lift, is that people still like to be able to check in with something that's got some substance."

After her last album of new material, the impressive but poorly promoted Snowfall on the Sahara, failed to gain much notice, the new one showed that Verve knows how to capitalize on its new star's name. The first week out, Ask a Woman landed at No. 32 on Billboard's Top 100 -- although it dropped 22 spots the next week.

So who knows how long it will last? And do sales even matter to her? "I don't know how to measure success any more," sighs Cole. "I know when I've done good work, and I'm already ahead of the game in that sense. I'm not waiting for anyone to tell me that."

She looks up, searchingly.

Jazz what Natalie knows best.

(From New Straits Times (Malaysia))

THE COUPLING OF inherent ease and an innate knowing results in Natalie Cole's consummate artistry, which is on full display on Ask A Woman Who Knows, her first album in three years and her milestone debut for Verve Records.

Effortlessly blending jazz and pop with her ever-soulful approach, Cole's new album brings new life to a selection of songs that she carefully handpicked with legendary producer Tommy LiPuma.

Some, like So Many Stars, a Sergio Mendes composition with lyrics by the Oscar-winning team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and The Music That Makes Me Dance, a classic chestnut from Funny Girl originally popularised by Barbra Streisand, may be familiar but others - like the beautifully poignant I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do and the title track (first recorded by Dinah Washington) can best be described as rare gems.

At home in the company of an intimate quintet of superb musicians backed by sophisticated orchestra arrangements on I Told You So, or in a big-band jazz setting on It's Crazy and Soon (both of which Cole first heard sung by Sarah Vaughan) she brings sensitivity, sass, swing and soul to every track.

With Cole's natural gift for lyrical interpretation, the album shines a light on 13 songs that speak to various aspects of love. In her own way, romance is rekindled through songs like My Baby Just Cares For Me and You're Mine You. In a similar mode is the pert Tell Me All About It, a Michael Franks song that retains much of the soothing balm the original provided. A duet with Diana Krall on Better Than Anything swings in a playful way.

In many ways, Ask A Woman Who Knows is a showcase for Cole's enduring artistry. As a song stylist capable of putting her stamp on diverse musical styles - from torch songs to gospel-based R&B - Cole is challenged in creating a new vibe while keeping the essence of what the songs represent, and making them special to a new generation of jazz fans.

An artiste whose work has been making an impact on the music world since her 1975 debut album, Inseparable, which won two Grammy awards, Cole brings a career rich in achievement and accomplishment to her new relationship with Verve Records.

As the daughter of one of the most important vocalists of the 20th century, Cole was exposed to the music of artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington at an early age. By the time she had reached her teens, she was also listening to the soulful sounds of Aretha Franklin and the rock and roll of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

All those influences helped form Cole's own musical choices. Her musical heritage, married with her love for pop, rock, R&B and gospel, combined to form her highly personal, distinctive vocal style. Over a 15-year span, Cole racked up an astounding 30 singles hits and countless accolades.

Her career reached new heights in the early 90s with the revered and critically-acclaimed Unforgettable, With Love, which sold an amazing 14 million copies worldwide and earned seven Grammy Awards. The album also catapulted her to a new level of recognition.

Cole ended her tenure with Elektra Records this year with a "greatest hits" collection. The album was issued to coincide with the publication of the singer's revealing autobiography, Angel On My Shoulder. The book made its appearance on national best-seller lists, and NBC adapted the book for a television movie titled The Natalie Cole Story.

Now, with the aptly-titled Ask A Woman Who Knows, Cole continues her exploration of fresh avenues for musical expression. This album marks the next phase of her musical journey and, as always, the songs are performed with that special Cole touch, with love.

Ask A Woman Who Knows is available at music stores throughout Malaysia.

Those who purchase the album will also find a contest form with a chance to win some fabulous prizes sponsored by Carl's.

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