MIDDLETOWN - Ridgefield Playhouse, that is, on Wednesday Oct. 22. Where will you be?

       I can easily tell you why I am so excited about seeing Natalie Cole for the first time. You have to understand growing up in a house filled with music and how it influenced me. Whether it was Broadway shows my parents had seen or jazz or pop of the time, we had music! Mom was smitten with Nat King Cole so, in my house, you came home from school and heard â€�"Stardust,” â€�"L-o-v-e,” â€�"Paper Moon,” â€�"Mona Lisa,” â€�"The Very Thought of You,” etc.

       This was my first initiation to music and I believed everyone’s life was like this. When I was older and learned about groups like the Beatles, I developed my own taste, but Mom and Nat still were going strong. That changed in 1965 when Nat King Cole died of lung cancer--a sad day in our house.

       Fast forward to my adult life. Fast forward to Natalie Cole singing her own songs while carrying on the heritage of her dad. In 1990, Natalie released an album, which goes down in history. By now you know it was, Unforgettable…with Love. Something Mom and I agreed on. Not only did it win several Grammys, but also it connected rebellious son and his mom through one song.

       Before this, Cole had a career separate from her father’s music with hits like â€�"Miss You Like Crazy,” â€�"I Wish You Love,” â€�"This Will Be” and a best-selling debut album, Inseparable.

       Meanwhile, a few years later, health issues plagued my mother fast and hard. One of her final wishes while facing the end was to hear â€�"Unforgettable.” I can easily say the hardest thing I have ever done was sing that song to my mother. She died a few months later and on her urn was the word, well you know, â€�"Unforgettable.”

       So, Natalie, you have been a major part of my life without even knowing it. That is why your performance at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Oct. 22 is so important to me. I urge everyone who loves great music to be in the audience with me that night. I won’t say it again, but this will be a very special night. See you there.

       Ridgefield Playhouse is located at 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield. Visit www.Ridgefield Playhouse.org for tickets.

       Jeffrey LaGrange can be reached at jefflagrange@yahoo.com