John Youngs (banjo,
guitar, vocals); Charles Dearness (trumpet); Paddy Darley (trombone); Tom
Pickles (soprano sax, alto sax); Doug Kemp (string bass)
(Review by Russell)
Fully half an hour
before the five thirty start the queue snaked up Chambers Street - and that was
the queue for lucky ticket holders, those walking up on the day formed a
secondary queue with no guarantee of getting in. Yes, the Tenement Jazz Band's
final gig at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival was one of 2019's hot
tickets.
Seven Tenement Jazz
Band Fringe gigs down with one to go, Jazz Bar staff set out additional seating
to meet the expected demand and, sure enough, as the five piece outfit
stomped-off with At a Georgia Camp Meeting, the Chambers
Street venue was thinking about turning away latecomers. John Youngs (banjo,
guitar) did the talking for the Edinburgh based outfit, often seeking
clarification on matters pertaining to recording dates, personnel and the like
from band mates, in particular the band's early jazz historian, trombonist
Paddy Darley.
Little more than
eighteen months on from first forming then quickly recording and releasing a
fine EP (New Orleans Wiggle) the Tenements' meteoric rise continues
apace. This being the Fringe the audience comprised visitors from America, the
Middle East and beyond who, without question, knew and loved the jazz they were
listening (and dancing) to. Lew Pollack's That's A Plenty couldn't
have been hotter. It was hot up on the street, down in the Jazz Bar the jazz
was absolutely red hot!
The band's
trumpeter, Charles 'Chuck' Dearness, had been out the night before celebrating
his birthday. If he was nursing a hangover it didn't show as Youngs teased him,
suggesting he might struggle to cope with taking on the roles (plural!) of King
Oliver and Louis Armstrong on Canal Street Blues. No pressure, said
Youngs! Dearness can play alright, as can all of the band with 'bone man Darley
doing a more than passable impression of Kid Ory on Savoy Blues.
String bass man
Doug Kemp picked up his bow to conjure a sousaphone-like sound on a
superb Chocolate Avenue (to evoke the period think
Clarence Williams and the Hershey chocolate empire) and, as with all great
gigs - and this was a great Tenement Jazz Band gig - time
flew. If only there could have been a second set but the band had to get out on
time with the next act waiting at the bar ready to set up and go. As the
Tenements neared the end of a memorable set - a set billed, accurately,
as The Red Hot Roots of Jazz - Tom Pickles (soprano and alto
sax) provided the icing on the cake on Weary Blues.
Russell
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