Toes will be tapping at big band concert

Jill Rodriguez always catches her mother tapping her feet and singing along at the annual Big Band concert in Bensenville.

Geesh. Parents. They're always embarrassing us.

"I always tell her that I'm not going to sit by her," Rodriguez said.

But in all honesty, Rodriguez loves this performance by the Bensenville Wood Dale Concert Band just as much as her mother.

"There are some of us who don't like to think of ourselves as senior citizens," said Rodriguez, who is director of the Bensenville Community Library and involved in organizing the concert. "But we love watching the seniors enjoy it. My mother, who is almost 90, tends to sing the songs or hum along."

It's hard not to when many of the songs take her back to younger days when songs by Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter were brand new.

"It's a different dimension and you don't really get to see this that much anymore," said Fred Lewis, director of the Bensenville Wood Dale Concert Band. "It's kind of nostalgic in a way."

Sponsored by the Bensenville Arts Council, the 35-member band plays a range of tunes from the 1930s to the 1970s.

"They are quite fun," he said. "(Big band concerts) were big 50 years ago. A lot of people enjoy this so we still keep doing it."

It's a rare spin using oboes, bassoons, clarinets and flutes on tunes such as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "As Time Goes By," "Blue Moon" and many others, he said.

"It makes a very interesting sound," Lewis said.

The evening includes a narrative, and this year it features male vocalist Terry Pernell, who performs with the Roosevelt University Jazz Band.

It's common to the end the evening with an enthusiastic encore, Lewis said.

The event is more formal than music in the park but less formal than a true concert atmosphere, Rodriguez said.

It's perfect for introducing young musicians to concert behavior, she said.

"It's a very inexpensive way for parents to bring their kids to a concert to learn etiquette and hear professional music," Rodriguez said. "It's just nice for people to have an opportunity to hear music that they might not be used to listening to."

The concert takes place in the Lewis-Huffman Auditorium in Fenton High School, 1000 W. Green St., Bensenville.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and students. They can be purchased at the door or at the Bensenville library, village hall and park district office.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News"><b>What:</b> Bensenville Wood Dale Big Band Concert </p>

<p class="News"><b>When:</b> 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28</p>

<p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Fenton High School auditorium, 1000 W. Green St., Bensenville</p>

<p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> $5 adults, $3 seniors and students</p>

<p class="News"><b>Info:</b> (630) 766-4642 </p>