John Youngs (banjo, guitar, vocals); Charles Dearness (trumpet); Paddy
Darley (trombone); Tom Pickles (alto sax, soprano sax); Doug Kemp (string bass)
(Review by Russell)
Darlington
New Orleans Jazz Club continues to go from strength to strength. For twelve
months and more Saturday lunchtime concerts at St Augustine's Parish Centre
have attracted ever increasing audiences and this welcome trend encouraged
organisers to take a chance on promoting an evening event at Hullabaloo on
Borough Road. Theatre Hullabaloo is Darlington Hippodrome's studio theatre
space and on Friday evening a near capacity audience turned up to hear the
Tenement Jazz Band.
The five
piece Tenement Jazz Band has had a meteoric rise since its formation less than
two years ago. It is often the case that musicians playing New Orleans' jazz
are of a similar vintage to their ageing audience but on this occasion the
Edinburgh based band was of a younger generation. Countless gigs (including a
series of standing-room-only gigs at this year's Edinburgh Fringe), a sold out
first CD (the band ordered several hundred additional copies in an attempt to
meet demand) and invaluable coverage in the jazz media (at home and in America)
has enabled the Tenements to build a word-of-mouth fan base.
Bogalusa Strut from the band's New Orleans
Wiggle album opened the Hullabaloo show. Thanks to their instrumental
virtuosity five young men with a commitment to, and passion for, the music of
1920s' New Orleans wowed the audience. From the first number of the night to
the last some two hours later, Hullabaloo's audience found itself in the Big
Easy (New Orleans) on the Mississippi.
The
Tenements' John Youngs made the introductions with an endearing line in
self-deprecating humour. The man originally from Norwich now living north of
the border sat with his band mates on a homely carpet which travels with the band
from gig to gig. Legendary characters featured during the evening. Trumpeter
Chuck Dearness rose to the challenge of emulating the likes of Joe 'King'
Oliver and Louis Armstrong and trombonist Paddy Darley took on the role of Kid
Ory and others. 
Dusty Rag, That's A Plenty (hot jazz!), Milenberg Joys (Youngs made the case for
the tune's Scottish origin!), Chocolate
Avenue (composed by the man who claimed to be from Saturn, Sun Ra!), White Ghost Shivers (the New Orleans
Owls) and New Orleans Wiggle entertained
an appreciative crowd which, at the end of the night, formed an orderly queue
to snap up the few remaining copies of the band's rightly popular debut
recording.
Russell
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