Natalie Cole to mix it up at Weill Hall

It’s been a busy year for Natalie Cole. She rocked the Kennedy Center with gospel sounds last January, she teamed up for a tune with Van Morrison on the “Duets” album he released in March, and she delighted crowds in Hollywood with some big live concerts in May.

She shows no signs of slowing down now. She’ll perform with her band Saturday, Aug. 1, at Weill Hall and its back lawn, and fans can expect a sampling of the many musical styles she has mastered.

“We don’t have a particular repertoire,” Cole said by phone from her home in Los Angeles. “We’ll put it together that day. We have a very diverse show. We mix it up a lot.”

Whether she’s singing standards, jazz or pop, Cole performs with a polish, style and grace that is practically her birthright.

Cole began her life and career with a rich musical legacy as the daughter of crooner Nat King Cole and former Duke Ellington Orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, and she’s been learning ever since.

“I’m still exploring different kinds of music. It could be country, gospel or blues. I think it’s important to keep looking, whether it’s Spanish or Brazilian or any of the romantic kinds of music,” she said.

The young Cole emerged as a rhythm and blues artist in the 1970s. Then her career lapsed in a very public way, with failing record and ticket sales, attributed to a highly publicized drug addiction. But at last, she came back into her own as a pop singer in 1987 with the album “Everlasting.”

In the 1990s, she secured her stardom with “Unforgettable... with Love,” a duet album that paired her with the recorded voice of her father. The album sold 7 million copies, won multiple Grammy Awards and led to a string of successful recordings of jazz classics and standards.

Now, at 65, Cole has long been firmly established on her own, with a career total of more than 30 million recordings sold.

But she still is evidently proud of her musical lineage. In 1958, when Natalie was 8 years old, her father scored a hit with his first Spanish-language album. In 2013, she released “Natalie Cole En Español,” which garnered four Grammy nominations, including one for the Latin Grammy Award.

“You should know what your comfort is and you should step off it every now and then. An artist has to keep exploring. When I started, that’s what I did. I was doing rock ‘n’ roll before I even started recording,” Cole said.

“If you call yourself an artist, one of the things you should always do is keep reaching. And it’s the same thing for acting.”

Cole also has enjoyed success as an actor, taking guest roles on TV series including the long-running hit “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Known for her classic stage presence and delivery, Cole has built a loyal following that has received her current tour with enthusiasm.

“Natalie Cole is a performer. No lights. No puppets. No smoke and bombs,” one fan posted online after her Atlanta concert in June. “She reminds us of why we should encourage the entertainers of today to be more than noise.”