Photograph: Cyril Blake and band at the Jig's Club. Soho, London, 1941.
From left: Brylo Ford (bass), Clinton Maxwell (drums), Freddie Grant (clarinet), Cyril Blake (trumpet/vocals), Colin Beaton (piano) and Laudric Caton (guitar).
Trinidadian Cyril Blake served in the British Merchant Navy during World War I and settled in England at the end of the war. During the following years, he played guitar and trumpet with several leading Caribbean bands. Blake's ensemble included calypsos in its repertoire at the Jig's Club, a venue that attracted a Caribbean clientele.
Photograph © Val Wilmer Collection.