Nick Fatool
b. 2 January 1915, Milbury, Massachusetts, USA. After starting out with the fine '30s dance band of Joe Haymes, drummer Fatool swung through a succession of top-flight big bands, notably those of Benny Goodman (appearing on the excellent Sextet sides of the late '30s and early '40s), and Artie Shaw, being unusually prominent on the original recording of Concerto For Clarinet. In the early '40s Fatool settled in California, where for the next two decades he worked in the film studios but found time to play his drums in numerous bands, including those led by Les Brown, Billy Butterfield and Harry James. He also played and sometimes recorded with Bob Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey and many others, gradually moving into the field of latter-day dixieland jazz to which he brought a deftly-swinging lightness that few of his contemporaries could match. Apart from Crosby the dixieland-style bands with whom he has played include those of Charles LaVere, Matty Matlock, Pete Fountain, the Dukes Of Dixieland, Barney Bigard and the World's Greatest Jazz Band. His career continued into the '80s, with tours of the USA and Europe with the Yank Lawson- Bob Haggart band. One of the unsung heroes of jazz drumming, Fatool's self-effacing style meant that he was often overlooked by audiences accustomed to the somewhat more bombastic playing of many of his contemporaries. Conversely, his subtlety and skill were always appreciated by musicians.