Post 608: FROG AND HENRY

Have you come across the wonderful band called 'Frog and Henry'?

Well, they are just as much a concept as a band, as they appear with any number of players from two to about seven (but mostly six) and the personnel changes constantly. But what you can always be sure of is that they offer the highest standards of musicianship and teamwork.

Have a look at these two videos:

(1) Shreveport Stomp (performed on tour in France):

CLICK HERE.

(2) That's a Plenty (performed in New Orleans):

CLICK HERE.

Different line-ups; but you see what I mean?

Frog and Henry describes itself as 'a brass and string band specializing in early Jazz, Ragtime, and Jug Band music'. If you explore the videos of the band, you will see how brilliantly it achieves these aims.

They do indeed use strings, including violin, frequently with a couple of reed players. Their house-style does not normally seem to require a full-kit drummer or a trombone but there is sometimes a cornet or trumpet player.

The band has toured in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, the U.K., Poland and Canada, as well as performing frequently in the U.S.A., notably in New Orleans. Not bad, eh? And it has more tours planned for the future.

I have never had the pleasure of seeing Frog and Henry in performance but my impression is that the band's guiding spirit is Ryan Baer - a charming and modest young man who is a multi-instrumentalist but mainly plays the banjo or guitar or mandolin with the group. Ryan, who is a Canadian, I believe,  used to be a member of Tuba Skinny. Wherever he is - in the USA or Europe - he manages to attract some of the most gifted local musicians from other bands; and they join him in lovingly and dexterously playing the wonderful old tunes. I have noticed that Robin Rapuzzi and Ewan Bleach enjoy playing in this band. Ewan even composed 'Berlin Rags' specially for them. CLICK HERE to enjoy their performance of Ewan's tune.

The band has recorded two albums (as at 2018). Full information is available on Bandcamp.

Post 583: 'BERLIN RAGS'

I was intrigued by 'Berlin Rags', a video put up by James Sterling (24 February 2018). If you haven't yet seen it, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGstamQp5Vs

Even by Tuba Skinny standards, it is an extraordinary piece of music. It was obviously thoroughly composed (mainly using the key of D minor) and arranged from start to finish, with none of the usual opportunities for improvised 'solos'. Notice the two bars from Barnabus and one from Todd at about 52 seconds, which seem to make a highly-unusual 3-bar 'bridge'. These bars are clearly part of the arrangement. Similarly, at about 1 minute 35 seconds, without any signal from Shaye, the strings switch to playing off-beats and the whole band takes the volume down briefly. Then you have those Justin tremolos - several of them, starting at about 1 min 58 - again obviously part of the composition. There’s Robin’s use of the cymbal starting at 1 minute 43 – four times in all, I think, and again later, all obviously pre-planned. Then there's the three silent beats from the entire rhythm section at 2 mins 42: things like that don't just happen. Finally, there is the very special and unusual ending. The structure of the piece is unconventional; and although it uses familiar chords, there are surprises in the progressions as well as in the melody.

So where did it all come from? Do you know? I did not. All I could tell was that it was NOT the 'Berlin Rag' that was composed by Bernie Pearl.

Well, Robin has kindly let me know it was composed in 2016 by Ewan Bleach - who of course had been a member of Tuba Skinny for a while. Well done, Ewan! And thanks, Robin. Ewan composed it for the band Frog and Henry and they (without a trombone - unlike Tuba Skinny) recorded it in 2016 on their CD (it's the very first track):

https://frogandhenry.bandcamp.com/album/frog-and-henry.

What's more, their version is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_hlXHBianM&feature=youtu.be .

Over the years, there have been close links between Tuba Skinny and Frog and Henry. I believe there have been four musicians who have played a great deal in both bands. When Tuba Skinny took on 'Berlin Rags', they had to find a role for the trombone. Robin told me also that his cymbal markings were purely an idea he had stuck with, though he changes them from time to time.

At the top of this article  you can see the poster produced to go with this tune. Frog and Henry Music have very kindly sent it to me.

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My friend Jonathan Graham, who is one of England's best traditional jazz musicians (on both guitar and trumpet), sent me this comment, which I think is spot on:-

I concur – lovely piece, brilliant arrangement and beautifully played. No room for error anywhere with those chord progressions. The chord players look like they may be reading (I would want to) but the front line seem, as you suggest, to have memorised it – this is particularly impressive when listening to how many note-precise parts the trombone player has to include. All very reminiscent in style and process to the legendary Morton Red Hot Peppers.