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!