By the time Welcome to the Club was recorded, Nat “King” Cole was already recognized by the general public as more of a singer and entertainer than a jazz pianist. Only a few rare exceptions, such as the 1956 small group album After Midnight, feature Cole as a pianist (despite his superb skill on the instrument). For the remainder of hissuccessful career – which ended with his sudden death in 1965 due to lung cancer – he continued singing more and more, and playing less and less.