An extended and updated edition of Ron Brown’s biography of Nat Gonella, co-written with Digby Fairweather - 206 pages plus 8 pages of gloss photos.
This book portrays the wonderful years with Billy Cotton, Roy Fox and Lew Stone, the creation of Nat’s Georgians, and his friendship with the great stars like Gracie Fields, Max Miller, Fats Waller and the legendary Louis Armstrong.
‘“Just a bit of a lark” is the way that Nat Gonella would have you remember his life but, for me, his story – supreme success though it is – is also a grand example of fate at her most ungenerous... his life . . . impinged on our lives too.’ — Digby Fairweather.
Author Digby Fairweather is a jazz cornettist, bandleader, broadcaster, writer, teacher and founder of the National Jazz Archive. His witty and anecdotal memoir, Notes from a Jazz Life, is also published by Northway.
”For a Cockney brought up in an orphanage because his Italian-rooted father died early, Nat Gonella had a remarkable feeling for American jazz, a quality that lifted him from the ranks of thirties dance band players - a fascinating book.” — Sunday Express
This book portrays the wonderful years with Billy Cotton, Roy Fox and Lew Stone, the creation of Nat’s Georgians, and his friendship with the great stars like Gracie Fields, Max Miller, Fats Waller and the legendary Louis Armstrong.
‘“Just a bit of a lark” is the way that Nat Gonella would have you remember his life but, for me, his story – supreme success though it is – is also a grand example of fate at her most ungenerous... his life . . . impinged on our lives too.’ — Digby Fairweather.
Author Digby Fairweather is a jazz cornettist, bandleader, broadcaster, writer, teacher and founder of the National Jazz Archive. His witty and anecdotal memoir, Notes from a Jazz Life, is also published by Northway.
”For a Cockney brought up in an orphanage because his Italian-rooted father died early, Nat Gonella had a remarkable feeling for American jazz, a quality that lifted him from the ranks of thirties dance band players - a fascinating book.” — Sunday Express