Nat King Cole's early trio -- piano, guitar, bass, no drums -- was one of the most important small groups in jazz history. The velvet pianist from Montgomery, Alabama, whose trio recordings reshaped what a piano could do in a small-group context. Then the pop career eclipsed it. Nature Boy. Mona Lisa. Unforgettable. The jazz was still there, in every chord choice, in every phrase.

He became the first Black man to host a network television variety show -- NBC, 1956 -- but no national sponsors would touch it because he was Black. He did it for a year and then said, 'Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.' He continued recording, continued performing, continued being the most elegant man in any room he entered.

He died of lung cancer at 45. Unforgettable became a posthumous duet with his daughter Natalie in 1991, introducing him to a generation too young to remember the velvet pianist. The trio recordings are still textbooks. The pop hits are still standards. The jazz foundation never crumbled.

Nat King Cole -- velvet pianist, first Black man to host a network TV show. The trio was one of jazz's most important small groups. Unforgettable.