Tenement Jazz Band

Tenement Jazz Band is a traditional jazz band formed in early 2018 in Edinburgh. Brought together by their shared love of New Orleans music, and comprising musicians from various corners of Edinburgh’s vibrant jazz scene, they are on a journey of exploration back to the roots of the music that they play.

Their aims are to capture the raw energy and excitement of the earliest jazz recordings, with most of their repertoire composed before 1930. They aim to find and revive lesser-heard songs and cultivate their own interpretations of these, all in order to captivate experienced jazzers, dancing persons, and uninitiated ears alike. They are particularly inspired the modern-day resurgence of early jazz on the streets of New Orleans, particularly fuelled by the strong busking culture there.

In their brief existence so far they have performed at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee, Islay and Glasgow Jazz Festivals, as well as at Belladrum, Eden and Kelburn festivals in Scotland and Fjellrocken Festival in Norway. After sell-out shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe & Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival in 2018, they performed two shows at Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2019, including as backing band to New Orleans’ singer Meschiya Lake. They were nominated for Best Band at the Scottish Awards 2019.