A rearranged gig from last autumn finally takes place at The Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth when bluesy Midwest two-piece The Black Keys bring their raw bluesy sound to the venue on Sunday January 18.  Guitarist Dan Auerback and drummer Patrick Carney form The Black Keys and both come from Akron, Ohio, USA.  
  The two twenty-somethings got good reviews for their album  "The Big Come Up"  containing tracks like the cranked-up "Countdown,"  "Heavy Soul"   and a distinctive cover of the Beatles' "She Said, She Said."  
   Gangly funk drummer Patrick Carney and the bearded Dan Auerback play the kind of music pioneered by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and colonized by The White Stripes, but The Black Keys’ sound goes right back to their influences including Mississippi Fred McDowell.  Garage feedback and distortion give their music a  contemporary rough-hewn edge, with the LA Times’ Dean Kuipers enthusing: “Imagine my surprise when I listened to The Black Keys disc..... it’s guaranteed to change your attitude on blues. Two white dudes, guitar and drums only, dishing up power trash blues. It's a smokin' rock record.  Cool vibe on this disc is that if you didn't know it was new you would think it's some lost garage rock masterpiece. Low fi recording, minimalist drumming, distortion that sounds like they took a fork to their amp membranes.”
 The Wedgewood Rooms is at Albert Road, Southsea   Ring  02392 293301 for more details of a rocking gig which also features a support band. (© Peter Ashton 2003)

Blues Moose
Preview by Peter Ashton

Basingstoke Blues Club have got something pretty special lined up for
Saturday January 17 - a visit from the Top Topham/John Idan Band. Both Top and John have links with The Yardbirds - Top was one of the original members and John is the current lead vocalist and guitarist with the band. John, pictured, recently fronted a splendid Yardbirds gig at The Brook in Southampton. Also appearing with the band are Dave Raeburn, former drummer with The Hoax and Bob Hall, keyboard player Dave Rose who has played with Alan Price and Dick Heckstall-Smith and Booby Taylor, bass player with appearances with Ben E King and Garnett Mims to his credit.
Basingstoke Blues Club meet at The Moose Centre opposite The Anvil, just near the railway station in Churchill Way. Tickets are £5 on the door with proceeds going to Arthritis Research. Doors open at 8pm with the music going on until midnight.
For advance tickets and further details, Please contact Rex on: (01256)
321837 or Mobile: 07979 422590 or Ted on: (01256) 324313 or you can email via the website: www.basingstokebluesclub.co.uk  (©Peter Ashton 2003)

Tuesday is the night for Southampton jazz fans. Southampton Jazz Club meet in the newly refurbished Staff Club at Southampton University, with the first session on January 27 featuring a tribute to Des Goodall with The SMC Big Band.
Des, who was a leading figure on the Southampton jazz scene, died a year ago. A musician, promoter, organiser and ambassador he is much missed and the event celebrates his life. A performance by The Southampton Musicians Co-operative Big Band is led by Ray D’Inverno and features Lee Goodall.
The following Tuesday welcomes the Peter King Quartet with saxophonist Peter joined by Steve Melling on piano, Jeremy Brown on bass and Steve Keogh on drums. A master of bebop and many more jazz styles, Peter is a musician of huge stature. Another legend appears on February 3, Digby Fairweather, the renowned trumpet player who takes the stage with the Chris Walker Swingtet. Also lined up for February is tenor sax player Andy Panayi with the Geoff Eales Trio on the 10th, and The Bobby Wellins on the 24th ,with a Jam Session sandwiched on the Tuesday between these two dates.
Scottish chanteuse Marie Muphy swings with the Leon Greening Trio on March 2, with the month also featuring The Dave Newton Trio and Lennart Andersson, with another Jam Session on March 23, before the season closes on March 30 with local multi-instrumentalist Paul Stiles and his sextet.
For further details phone Steve on 01489 786527. There are no advance tickets; all gigs are various prices on the door. To join Southampton Jazz Club send a cheque (payable to Southampton Jazz Club) to Pam Cotton, 12, Tower Gardens, Bassett, Southampton, SO16 7EL (Tel: 02380 768030) Single - £16, Joint - £25, Student - £10.  (©Peter Ashton 2003)

One of rock’s characters turns up at The Brook with his band later this
month. Sean Tyla, once a member of 70s band Ducks De Luxe, fronts The Tyla Gang at the popular Southampton music venue on Thursday January 29.
Guitarist and vocalist Sean has been around a long time. Born in Barlow in Yorkshire in 1947, he first came to musical prominence as a member of Geno Washington’s celebrated soul outfit The Ram Jam Band in the late 1960s. After meeting up with bass player Ken Whaley he formed Ducks De Luxe in late 1972, recruiting various members destined for fame later in bands like The Motors and The Rumour. Ducks De Luxe were together for around three years, producing an eponymous debut album and a follow-up called “Taxi to the Terminal Zone,” the title inspired by a line from Chuck Berry’s famous “Promised Land.” They
also produced an EP released only in Europe, where they were pretty big, and a posthumous compilation “Don’t Mind Rockin’ Tonite.” The Ducks called it a day in 1975.
The Sean Tyla Gang followed, signing to Stiff Records in late 1976, a
short-lived association which ended in disaster. A double A side
“Styrofoam”/”Texas Chain Saw Massacre Boogie” was later released, disappearing without trace.
Sean then saw his chance at the fledgling Beserkley label and released two albums thereon, “Yachtless” and “Moonproof.” After the demise of Beserkley he moved on to Polydor where he recorded the album “Just Popped Out.” Sean’s career thereafter involved a spell in California, legal disputes over a proposed single “Breakfast in Marin” which prevented its’ release, a solo career and more band work before he retired from the business.
Now Sean is back on the road with The Tyla Gang - as he says on his website “Maybe the time is right to kick some arse again.” Don’t miss what promises to be a feast of stonking blues-rock at The Brook on January 29 - advance tickets are £7 via 02380 555366.  (©Peter Ashton 2003)

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