Jazz Performance Saturday! - "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"- West End Jazz Band

Today we will take a look and a listen to the West End Jazz Band, which is based out of the Chicago area. The where the band is performing is just as interesting as the music they are playing!

Image from their website.

Recorded on October 19, 2008 during a Chicago/Hudson Lake train excursion we hear the Twenties tune, Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue. The West End Jazz Band formed in about 1980 under the leadership of cornet player Mike Bezin. The band plays the great music of the 1920s and '30s. They've played many a jazz festival and make the train ride on  private cars to the historic Blue Lantern dance hall on Hudson Lake, Indiana. The great Bix Beiderbecke played there during the Summer of 1926.

Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Girl?) was written by Ray Henderson and the lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young. It was published and recorded in the same year, 1925. The California Ramblers released a notable recording of it in that year.

In this video we have  Mike Bezin on cornet; Leah Bezinon on banjo; Frank Gualtieri on trombone; John Otto on clarinet; Mike Albiniak on drums; and Mike Walbridge on tuba. Also heard on this perform were Andy Schumm on cornet; Dave Bock on trombone; Sue Fischer on washboard; and Jack Kuncl on banjo.

So here goes! Enjoy this rendition of this classic tune , on a train  from 2008!

Jazz Performance Saturday! - "Royal Garden Blues"- Potato Head Jazz Band

This week let's take a look at a jazz performance by the Potato Head Jazz Band.

The Potato Heads exhibit the spirit of early jazz! - Photo from Facebook page.

The Potato Heads are based out of Granada, Spain, but perform all over the world. This jazz performance the old favorite Royal Garden Blues, is from a 2013 Spanish television program. 

Royal Garden Blues was written by composer Spencer Williams (1889-1965) and published by Clarence Williams' publishing company in 1919. Although Clarence Williams is credited as one of the composers he most likely didn't compose the tune at all. It was a common practice for music publishers to attach their name to the works they published.

Spencer Williams also composed such notable tunes, as I Ain't Got Nobody, (1915), Tishomingo (1916), Everybody Loves My Baby, (1924), and Basin Street Blues (1928).

The band members in this television performance are Alberto Martín on trumpet; Martin Torres on clarinet; Andrew Lynch, tenor saxophone; Patricio Caparrós, bass; Antonio Fernández, banjo; and Jaime Párrizas on drums.

Jazz Performance Saturday! - "Doctor Jazz"- Imperial Jazzband

Today we look at the Imperial Jazzband from the Lake Constance region of Switzerland. In this performance the band is playing the tune Doctor Jazz composed by Joe "King" Oliver in the 1920s. "Jelly Roll" Morton's famous recording of the tune with His Red Hot Peppers took place on December 16, 1926.

This performance of Doctor Jazz by the Imperial Jazzband was recorded in Germany on August 7, 2010.

Some of the band members playing are Norbert Wanner on tuba; Reiner Barann  on banjo; Heinz Schmid on clarinet and Peter Hohl on trombone.

The rest of the video with further music can be found here on YouTube.