Second Nature

Guitarist Elijah Cole came to SteepleChase via Tony Miceli's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (SCCD 34012). Nils Winther asked Cole a few months after Miceli's session to lead his own date. Second Nature is his debut as a leader and first commercial release since the self-produced solo guitar album Universe of One. He chose the format of an organ trio of "bluesy, groove-based, swinging, high-energy" Philadelphia tradition. Organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Byron Landham both played substantial role in Cole's development as an artist. A Washington, D.C. native, while still at high school, he was performing professional gigs before he enrolled Temple University, Philadelphia. Cole logged nearly fifteen sideman years before his 2025 breakthrough - three European tours, NAMM appearance, Ronnie Scott's in London - then a Yamaha deal and a Temple teaching post. Cole wrote seven originals at Winther's urging: the roaring "For B", built for Landham's shuffle; "The Farthest Shore", a nod to Wayne Shorter; jagged bebop in "Philly", Bianchi channeling Larry Young; the burnished "Unknown Traveler", honoring Peter Bernstein. A quicksilver, New Orleans-flavored take on Shorter's "Armageddon" closes the set. Patient in it's spaces, searing when it swings: a young guitarist forging a voice of his own.

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