Freddy Cole and Rene Marie premiere their new vocal duo in four festival performances

The world's newest vocal duo will make its premiere March 24 and 25 at the Savannah Music Festival.

Freddy Cole, the youngest brother of legendary crooner Nat King Cole, and jazz singer René Marie are joining forces in "He Said, She Said" to present original music and hidden gems.

Growing up, Cole saw visitors to his home in Chicago that included Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Lionel Hampton. While not as well known as his older brother, his vocals are among the most respected in jazz.

Marie's style incorporates jazz, blues, gospel and soul ranging from Motown to Tin Pan Alley. Although her career began at age 42, she has more than made up for lost time.

The upcoming concert is Marie's third appearance in Savannah in 15 years.

"I have enjoyed it very much," she says. "I love Savannah. The only problem is I don't have a lot of time to go sightseeing, so this time I'm coming in a day earlier."

The show will include both duets and solos.

"We'll come together, then split apart and come back together at the end of the show," Marie says. "Freddy and I come from very different mindsets approaching music.

"We also have a similar love for the jazz classics, the swing that typifies jazz. We also share some of the same musicians, as the drummer and bass player in my group are also in his group.

"That was how I got the idea to do this," she says. "If we're sharing musicians, why not take the next logical step?"

Music has always been a major part of Marie's life.

"My father and mother had this amazing record collection they played all the time," she says. "It ranged from opera to classics to blues to folk music and country and western.

"It had everything but jazz. My father would sing along.

"As kids, we learned those songs and we designed little games around them," Marie says. "I had this game called 'Choir' where everyone had to sing a note and harmonize."

Although she and her siblings had no formal musical training, music came naturally to all of them.

"We would play at night," Marie says. "We had a piano but it was terribly out of tune and away in a corner where no one used it. That was how I got my musical training."

While Marie always sang at home, she never had the opportunity to sing professionally.

"I have two sons and my oldest one was in college," she says. "He was home for a break and was at a restaurant.

"He called and said, 'Mom, you're not going to believe it. There's a woman and a jazz trio and she's singing all the songs you sing, but she's terrible.'

"I dropped what I was doing and went to the restaurant," Marie says. "I said, 'I can't believe she's getting paid to do this. She wasn't a terrible singer, but she was a boring singer and the musicians weren't really into it,"

Not only did the singer not seem to care, neither did her audience.

"Nobody was listening," Marie says. "She finished the song and nobody clapped.

"I thought it was such a shame because she was singing great songs. When my son said, 'Why don't you do it, Mom?' I thought I was too old.

"We went back home and talked to my then-husband and younger son," she says. "As a family, we said, 'Why don't you try?'"

At the time, Marie was working at a bank, but she began singing on the side to see if she could make money.

"It just so happened I had a friend who had his own quintet," she says. "He said, 'I can't pay you, but we'll put out a tip jar and we'll split tips six ways.'"

Every Wednesday, Marie sang with the quintet and also at a jam session. She began approaching other musicians and seeing if they were interested in forming a group and getting gigs.

Today, Marie has an exciting career.

"One of the things that has given me the most satisfaction was recently we were in concert in New York and I redid the song I wrote called 'Blessings,'" she says. "When I introduced the song, I said, 'This is a song I wrote after my brother passed away. If you have a relative that you haven't spoken to, I urge you to contact them, call them tonight, because you don't know when it will be last time you said goodbye.'

"A woman came up afterwards and said, 'I just called my brother for the first time in seven years.'

"My whole purpose is to move people," Marie says. "Composing songs is hard, but you never know who it's going to impact."

IF YOU GO

What: "He Said, She Said"

When: 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. March 24 and 25

Where: Charles H. Morris Center, 10 E. Broad St.

Cost: $50

Info: www.savannahboxoffice.com, 912-525-5050