[Dixielandjazz] Nat Gonella

[john petters]

Hi Marek,
I'm with Steve on this.

I've always regarded Nat as pretty square.

It is  particularly noticable if you play the two versions side by side.
Bing is far ahead of Nat in terms of phrasing. Nat's singing and playing 
  is pretty much on the beat.

The band sound like a good Briish band (who is the drummer - is it Joe 
Daniels?) and miles behind any of the good American bands of the time.

Maybe the most creative Brit in those days was George Chisholm, who 
could certainly swing and appears on the Fats Waller London sessions.

BTW, Nat sang with my band about 20 years ago, either at Gosport (with 
Yank Lawson) or Eastleigh, during the Wild Bill / Art Hodes tour. He'd 
long stopped playing trumpet.

I did hear some of his stuff from about 1960 and his trumpet playing had 
lossened up by then.

BTW A big row on the BBC Radio 3 Message board with heated discussion 
over whether Bing Crosby should have featured in their 'Jazz Library' 
series. A lot of the modernists on there took very entrenched views.
Have a read:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbradio3/F2620065?thread=7175983

Cheers


John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com