Cole became the first Puerto Rican resident on the island—and only the second nationwide—to receive the New Jazz Works Grant from Chamber Music America for his compositional work with Villa Locura, underscoring his standing as a composer of national significance.

He is widely recognized for his role as drummer for the Grammy Award–winning ensemble led by Miguel Zenón. As a core member of the Quartet for over two decades, Cole has shaped the ensemble’s rhythmic architecture across internationally acclaimed recordings and global tours and contributed to projects that have defined the contemporary Latin and jazz canon.

Cole’s work extends across genres, including collaborations with Tito Allen, Tego Calderón, Andy Montañez, CHano Domigüez, Ben Wendel, Gary Burton, Quincy Jones, Draco Rosa, Daddy Yankee , Natti Natasha and Calle 13 earning a Grammy Award for the latter, among others.

In his latest album, De Mayagüez (2025), Cole returned explicitly to his hometown as a conceptual foundation. The album examines place, memory, and forward motion, internalizing folkloric logic within modern compositional frameworks. It does not reference tradition as ornament; it advances it as structure and propulsion.