Ten north east jazz greats. 5 - Big Pete Deuchar (a.k.a. Peter Duker)

Big Pete Deuchar (1933 - 1988). Of all the musicians honoured in this series, Deuchar was the character. He was only 55 when he stepped in front of a train on October 14, 1988 but, in those 55 years he probably did more than the any 55 year old banjo player ever did - Peter Deuchar was a one-off!

Famed locally as the founder of the Vieux Carré Jazzmen - a band who are still going strong today - Deuchar, grandson of James Deuchar of the famed Deuchar brewing dynasty - played banjo and became totally immersed in the traditional music of New Orleans, later making a name for himself on the London scene with a variety of bands of many different genres.

He was also a keen cyclist and later cycled around the world. He held the record for cycling across America and wrote a biography of the great Italian cyclist, Fausto Coppi. There's much more I could write but Colin H on The Afterword website has posted 10,000 words, including a discography, on Pete's life and death that is essential (and compulsive) reading for anyone keen to learn more about this enigmatic person. More photos from/courtesy of Brian Bennett's collection. 

Lance