The Nat Gonella Story
A TRIBUTE TO NAT GONELLA
- Enrico Tomasso - Trumpet
- Ian Bateman - Trombone
- Pete Long - Alto and Clarinet
- Sam Miles - Tenor and Baritone
- Sam Watts - Piano
- David Ingamells - Drums
- Sandy Suchodolski - Double Bass / bandleader
Nat Gonella started playing cornet at school. His professional career began in 1924 when he joined Archie Pitt's Busby Boy's Band, here he discovered the music of Louis Armstrong and Dixieland Jazz.
Beginning in 1928, Gonella spent a year in Bob Bryden's Louisville Band before working with Archie Alexander and Billy Cotton. Cotton's band allowed him to record his first solos and to explore scat singing.
Gonella's reputation grew and he formed The Georgians in 1935. He became a headline act on the variety circuit before the outbreak of World War II when was recruited into the Stars in Battledress campaign.The revival in traditional jazz in the Fifties allowed him to reform his Georgians In February 1960 he featured on the UK television show This Is Your Life, an appearance which later inspired an album The Nat Gonella Story. He also appeared on the BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs in August 1966.Digby Fairweather's New Georgians paid tribute to Gonella's musical heritage in 1984, and Fairweather and fellow trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton co-hosted a television tribute, Fifty Years of Nat Gonella, the following year, in which Gonella himself was an enthusiastic participant.
Sandy Suchodolski
Since completing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, london. Sandy Suchodolski can be heard with Renato D'Aiello and his band on Monday nights at Ronnie Scott's, as well as regularly in the club with various other bandleaders. He has performed extensively in the UK and across Europe and also plays with Mileski, a band which features much of his original music.
Sandy has performed at Ronnie Scott's, The 100 Club, The Spice of Life, The Hammersmith Apollo, The Prince of Wales Theatre and many others, with the likes of Jay Craig and his Orchestra, James Maddren, Alan Barnes, Gilad Atzmon, Mark Fletcher, Craig Milverton, Karen Sharp and Digby Fairweather to name but a few.