[Dixielandjazz] Nat Gonella

[Graham Martin]

Extremely debatable methinks, judging by that pile of 78s that gave me my
first interest in jazz. One could say that he certainly had one of the best
British dance bands of the 1930s and there are plenty of YouTube's available
to check this out. But it would not compare say with Duke Ellington of that
period. Later, I saw him play during the so-called trad boom of the late
fifties in the UK and he was not impressive. I think he worked on his lip
and was again playing quite well when playing with Ted Eason etc during the
seventies. He was very much an Armstrong inspired player but had a very
unfortunate embouchure which really affected his tone and staying power.
Always loved the cockney accent vocals though. 

My parents were great fans of his and I have a lot of nostalgia for the
music of my early childhood, immediately after the war. (WWII, that is).

Best,

Graham Martin
REDLAND BAY
Queensland
Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Haesler [mailto:bhaesler at bigpond.net.au] 
Sent: Sunday, 17 January 2010 7:23 AM
To: Marek Boym; Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Nat Gonella

Marek Boym wrote [in part]:
> I know some (not all) of the early Gonella recordings.  Yet, his big
> band was a swing band, and could match any American band, with the
> possible exception of Basie, Ellington and Tommy Dorsey (when not
> playing the lachrymose ballads).

Dear Marek,
Mmmmmmm.
Also debatable.
Very kind regards,
Bill.


 

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