Airmen of Note will play familiar Glenn Miller arrangements and other numbers for all ages.
LEWISTON – More than 50 years ago many of the top swing bands in the country appeared at the Lewiston Armory.
In just a few weeks and just next door to that location, some of the best of those days will be revisited.
The successors to Glenn Miller’s U.S. Army Air Corps band are coming to Lewiston.
Airmen of Note, a U.S. Air Force 18-piece big band and jazz ensemble, will perform Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Lewiston Middle School auditorium. The concert is free.
The group is one of eight performing bands of various types that tour the United States promoting the country’s military service.
The Lewiston appearance came about through the efforts of Norma Gardner, a teacher at Lewiston High School. Gardner said she put in a request to the Air Force several months ago and learned this summer the group would be coming.
“They have rolled out the red carpet for us in Lewiston,” said Tech. Sgt. Joseph P. Grasso Jr., who handles promotion for Airmen of Note from their base of operations in Washington, D.C. He said the band got its start in 1950, carrying on the tradition of Glenn Miller’s Army Air Corps swing band.
The ensemble tours twice a year and the Maine stop comes at the end of a swing up the eastern seaboard and Vermont.
“The tours are a mix of community relations and troop morale,” Grasso said. “We have progressed beyond the swing band era and we present a varied program that includes rock-oriented numbers and straight-ahead jazz. We try to play something for everyone in the audience.”
Following the early years of the band, Airmen of Note adopted a more contemporary style under the direction of the legendary Sammy Nestico. Beginning in the 1970s, Senior Master Sgt. Mike Crotty, the Note’s chief arranger for more than 25 years, helped elevate the band to the forefront of modern big band jazz.
Today, Master Sgt. Alan Baylock, the Note’s current chief arranger, maintains the band’s commitment to driving innovation and respect for tradition.
To augment its talented writing staff, Airmen of Note has commissioned works by such celebrated arrangers as Bob Florence and Bob Mintzer. Sammy Nestico and fellow Note alumnus Tommy Newsom have each composed works for the group as well.
Airmen of Note is one of today’s few touring big bands. The group also has an extensive record of international performances. Its appearances in five South American countries, eight European countries and Japan have solidified its reputation as one of the best bands of its kind in the world.
This reputation is built on regular and greatly anticipated feature performances at the world’s most famous jazz festivals, including the Detroit/Montreux Jazz Festival, Notre Dame Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Wichita Jazz Festival, Elkhart Jazz Festival and the Pensacola Jazz Festival.
This has led to many collaborative efforts, recordings and performances with such luminaries as Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan and Cleo Lane. In 1990, Airmen of Note established its highly acclaimed Jazz Heritage Series.
Since then, legendary jazz icons, including Clark Terry and Louis Bellson, as well as today’s top artists like Arturo Sandoval and Randy Brecker, have shared the stage with the Airmen of Note as it presents this series to Washington D.C. audiences.
“We are giving the audiences a truly professional product,” said Chief Master Sgt. Dudley Hinote (yes, that’s his real name), noting Airmen of Note is comprised entirely of enlisted U.S. Air Force personnel, and all are musicians of professional caliber.
Hinote, who is the ensemble’s manager and also plays bass trombone with them, said the Lewiston concert will include familiar Glenn Miller arrangements and other numbers for all ages. The ensemble features a female vocalist, Tech. Sgt. Paige C. Wrobles.
About 800 free tickets are available for the concert. Gardner said there will be a limit of four per request, although more can be given for larger families.
“We want whole families to see this show,” she stressed.
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