Frog and Henry at Fogo

Sometimes what looks as if it is going to be a good evening out turns into something even more special. Such was the case in Fogo Parish Church recently when a good audience drawn from far wider than the parish of Fogo was entertained by Frog and Henry, a group of jazz musicians who all met up playing in the streets of Saint Louis, the home of jazz. Every year this group tours Britain and we were incredibly fortunate that because of a gap in their programme we were able to entice them to play for us in Fogo, giving us the opportunity of listening to original jazz, the musical numbers played in the style for which Saint Louis became famous in the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century. The photograph shows the five musicians, from the left Lauran from Berlin who plays saxophone and clarinet; Dave from Canada who plays the tuba and banjo at the same time — the valves of the tuba being controlled by his feet and one knee; Ewan, the leader of the band from Oxford now living in London, who plays five different saxophones and a clarinet; Ryan also from Canada who plays the guitar; and Coleman from Tennessee who plays the fiddle. The photo also shows the size and the extravagance of some of their instruments, what it cannot do is convey the excitement of their authentic Saint Louis sound which rocked the little church and enthralled their enthusiastic audience, leaving us shouting for more after two and a half hours of wonderful music.