Frank Griffith remembers Frank Toms (1937 - Jan. 27, 2021)

(Photo © John Ross supplied courtesy of LJN)

Having  known  and played  with Frank for 25 years (from 1996)  I found him open to playing any type of gig going and would do his level best to attend at a moment's notice - he  so welcomed a challenge.

Frank’s Mancunian accent and humour remained intact throughout his 83 years. We used to discuss classical music a lot and he recommended that I acquire Tchaikovsky’s Serenade For Strings which I duly did and found it a great source for learning about writing for smaller string ensembles.

We played a trio gig in 1998 with Peter Ind on bass at the Bell Inn in Hampton. In the middle of one of Peter's lengthy solos he suddenly shouted "Lay Out" at Frank, presumably because he preferred no piano comping at that point. Frank dutifully obeyed and got up from the keyboard and walked over and stood by me, chuckling away and showing no signs of being insulted or cheesed off at Peter. 

Another occasion was a last minute need for a pianist at a very short-lived venue in Shepherds Bush called The Blue Jay in 2003. A trio with myself and a  Sinatranic singer. Frank sailed through winsomely, accompanying me on a variety of standards that we both knew. His accompanying the singer was a bit more of a challenge as he had never worked with him before as well as the singer doing a less than usual repertoire. That, along with the singer making overly high demands on his pianist (largely down to his own self-importance on stage) did not even begin to flummox Frank, resulting in a top  show for the punters and trio alike.

RIP, dear Frank. Your unique musicianship and friendship will live eternally.

Frank Griffith