Frog and Henry are the most interesting of several cooperative bands with fluid lineups coming together around a musical idea. In their case, that idea is to revive the string and brass band instrumentation of the early part of the last century and focus on early jazz, ragtime, and jug band material.
Recorded live to tape in England towards the end of February, (equipment details are provided for those who savor such things,) this album charts a different course from the impressively originalist jazz and ragtime that so impressed me when I reviewed their first two records last year. On those records, they took songs recorded by Noone, Oliver, Piron and other early jazzmen and presented them in a fashion that somehow felt even earlier.
From Frog and Henry 2018Frog and Henry (2018) by Frog and Henry
This album instead feels just in time, with a focus on sweet songs of the 20s and 30s. Some of the titles on their 2018 album already drifted in this direction, and I like the way they are headed. There isn't enough sweetness in the world of early jazz.Like Tuba Skinny with whom they share members, but not a style, Frog and Henry are excellent at unearthing lost gems waiting for a bit of polish. The highlight of this album is a fantastic delivery of Al Bowlly's "In My Little Red Book". Honoring a previous request I won't give band members names but the male vocal on this album, had he li
