British trumpeter
Nathaniel Charles "Nat" Gonella (1908-1998) was posthumously honored in 1999 by the Living Era label with this excellent album containing 25 of his best performances recorded between 1931 and 1941. Initially a prominent member of bands led by
Billy Cotton,
Roy Fox,
Ray Noble, and
Lew Stone, his major influence was
Louis Armstrong. Aside from "Oh Monah," recorded with
Fox in 1931, everything heard here was originally issued under
Gonella's name during his days with Decca (1932-1934), Parlophone (1934-1939), and Columbia (1940-1941). Because his first blush of popularity occurred as a result of his lovely rendition of
Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia on My Mind" (recorded with
Fox in 1932),
Gonella called his band
the Georgians, and later
the New Georgians. He recorded the song at least twice as a leader; the version that closes this anthology was waxed in January 1941. Adept as a vocalist, the trumpeter is splendidly featured here with a healthy quantity of instrumentals, including "Chicago," "I Want to Be Happy," "Bugle Call Rag," and a pair of original novelties: "Crazy Valves" and "Trumpetuous."