Nat Gonella's Trumpet
Nat Gonella 7th March 1908 - August 6th 1998
On
the 7th March this year, the people of Gosport will be celebrating what
would have been Nat Gonella's centenary birthday. Bass player Derek Brown, from
Bamber Bridge, Preston, thought this was a good time to do something about
a trumpet he's had in his possession for some years. This is his story -
I have just sent down to Gosport, Nat Gonella's trumpet that I have had since playing with him in the clubs in the North West around the 60's. As you can imagine, it was a complete thrill to be playing with Nat, as my father was his greatest fan. I must say that all the musicians around the Fylde Coast and the Northern clubs got the same thrill when playing with him. There will be too many to mention by name, but in this message it would be nice to remind them all, that on the 7th March 2008 it would have been his 100th birthday, and in his home town of Gosport, it will be a day of celebration for the life of the great Nat Gonella.
There was a seat, which had been made for him, outside his flat in Gosport where he used to sit and watch the world go by. The seat was designed in the shape of a large metal trumpet and his daughter Natalie recently told me that he loved that seat and whilst sitting in the sunshine, he would talk to everyone who passed by. He had many friends who would drop by and even the kids coming home from school would stop and chat to him. When Nat died, the seat was full of flowers and the kids who used to talk to him had laid many of them. I hope they will all remember him as one of the greatest trumpet players of his time.
Nat singing "Oh Monah"
A lot of his friends and fans won't be aware that a garden of remembrance has also been created in memory of Nat in Gosport. His daughter Natalie opened the garden, which was a gift from the Gosport Council, shortly after he died.
Nat left a £1,000 bequest to the Gosport Jazz Club to 'keep the music going' and the club in turn pledged to donate any future profit to disadvantaged children in the town, in memory of Nat. They did this by setting up The Nat Gonella Memorial Trust Fund
in honour of the jazz musician who lived in Gosport for 21 years and who was a faithful supporter of the club. Husband and wife team Pat and Tony Wing, along with Maurice Kemp administer the fund and although the bequest
is used as a reserve fund for the non-profit club to make sure it met the costs of events it put on, the Trust
is there to help disadvantaged children, by buying shoes, bedding, coats and possibly musical instruments for needy children in Gosport, and
for organising food hampers at Christmas for them. It was Nat's own background in a children's home that inspired them to do this as he had a love of people and especially children . I think this is a lovely tribute to a Great Star.
The trumpet I have donated, was an old Conn Coprian 12b, which I managed to acquire when Nat was parting with it when updating. I played it for a while doubling on bass guitar with a band from Bolton, the Cleveland Sound. I used it to blow the intros and endings to give the band the big band sound.
I had trouble bending down to pick the trumpet up and blowing it cold, so it was suggested that I hang it around my neck on a piece of string to save me bending down and to keep it warm. One day, Eddie Taylor threatened to run over it after a gig, so I decided to give it to my dad as he was Nat’s greatest fan. My parents used to dance to Nat’s records and had good memories of the Georgians. Unfortunately I upset the Cleveland Sound by not playing it again, so they made me go for the chips every night.
I hope that if and when they auction the trumpet, they will get a bob or two for it. If it helps to buy some kid a pair of shoes, that's great, it's what Nat would have wanted. I hope that all the musicians and friends of Nat who find this article interesting, raise a glass or two on the 7th March on what would have been Nat’s 100th birthday.
Derek Brown, Preston.
February 2008