We started life in 1969 as the Gordon Tetley Big Band, named after the legendary drummer who put it together: bandleader Gordon Tetley. Seventeen players — five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets, plus piano, bass, drums and guitar — and that's more or less the shape of the band still today.
 

For years our home was the Dubrovnik Hotel in Bradford, where we played every Monday night, all year round, to a loyal crowd who kept coming back (many of which who continue to come to this day).

These days you'll find us on Tuesday nights at the Caroline Street Social Club in Saltaire — a different room, different band mambers, but the same heart and soul.
 

When Gordon's health forced him to step back from the stand, trumpeter Eric Smith took over. Eric had trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and ran a steel-trading business in Ilkley by day, but by night he'd been round the block — playing the old Mecca ballroom circuit behind the likes of Shirley Bassey, Tommy Steele and Morecambe and Wise. He led the band until he passed away in December 2010, still playing almost to the very end.
 

Somewhere along the way we shortened our name to the GT Big Band, but the rest hasn't changed much. Fifty-plus years, a couple of Bradford postcodes, and more players than we could ever list have passed through this band. We're still here every Tuesday night, still seventeen strong, still playing the charts, pad by pad.

Come down and see for yourself!