Biography of Steve Cole

Up to this point in time, Steve Cole has primarily recorded and performed commercial pop/jazz music. He has not yet developed a fresh sound of his own, looking primarily towards David Sanborn and Grover Washington Jr. for inspiration and for many of his ideas. Growing up in Chicago, Cole's father was a part-time saxophonist. In seventh grade Steve Cole played clarinet briefly before switching to saxophone. He studied music at Northwestern University (which he first attended in 1984) and played r&b gigs on the side. After earning an economics degree and working outside of music, Cole switched fulltime to performing in 1992. He appeared on recordings with Junior Wells (1993's Better Off with the Blues, as Steven Finckle) and Brian Culbertson, also working with Freddy Cole and Bob Mamet. Steve Cole's recorded debut as a leader is 1998's Stay Awhile (Atlantic), a purely "smooth jazz" affair. Continuing in the radio-friendly vein of his debut, Cole released Between Us in 2000 and then jumped ship, moving from Atlantic to Warner Brothers. His first album for the label, NY LA, bowed in 2003. ~ Scott Yanow