[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 82 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO FROEBEL ASTOR ``FRO'' BRIGHAM

                                 ______


                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 1996

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a close friend and 
longtime fixture of the San Diego music community who died May 31--
Froebel Astor Brigham, known simply as Fro.
  Fron, whose musical career spanned more than half a century, will be 
greatly missed by more than three generations of music lovers in my 
hometown of San Diego. A patriarch of the area jazz scene since the 
1940's, Fro dazzled everyone who listened with his smooth sounding 
trumpet, which featured a mouthpiece given to him by jazz legend Louis 
Armstrong.
  Following his arrival in San Diego in 1945, Fro became a must-see on 
the local jazz circuit. He and his Preservation Jazz Band were soon 
playing before some of the highest political and civic officials in San 
Diego. In the last two decades of his illustrious career, Fro's 
performance schedule was as consistent as the high quality of his 
playing--Fridays and Saturdays at Pal Joey's in Allied Gardens, 
Wednesdays and Thursdays at Patrick's II downtown.
  His talent, of course, earned him numerous honors. He won two San 
Diego Music Awards. He was honored in 1993 at the Catfish Club as the 
Grandaddy of San Diego jazz. He was recently honored at a special 
tribute at Pal Joey's. So moving was his trumpet playing that Lady Bird 
Johnson once flew him to her ranch in Texas to perform
  Not surprisingly, Fro became as well known for his contributions to 
the community as for his music. He led a volunteer drive to collect 
donated bread and sweet rolls from supermarkets for distribution to the 
needy. He delivered food to the hungry one or more times every week. 
And he was a board member of the Corrective Bahaviors Institute, a 
center for at-risk children.
  Fro served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1945. He was a groundskeeper 
for the San Diego Parks and Recreation Department for 30 years until 
his retirement in 1979.
  One thing he never retired from was his music, which was his most 
effective means of communication. Indeed, as an African-American, Fro 
was recognized as having broken ethnic music barriers that long existed 
in San Diego. His contributions to the art of music and to the San 
Diego community will not be forgotten.

                          ____________________