the great Lester Young, on drums. The “King” himself, one of America’s biggest recording stars, a man who had earned so much money for Capitol Records that its signature cylindrical building in Hollywood was known as “the house that Nat built,” came out in his white tuxedo with black lapels, wrist cuffs, and a matching bow tie. Cole sat at the piano and began to pound out one of his hits. Which one, exactly, is lost to memory, but it was probably “Caravan,” “Lover Come Back to Me,” or “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Though most of the audience was Cuban, many mouthed the words as he sang “Nature
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