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Retired director solos song for first time with Airmen of Note

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. James Bolinger
  • 71st Flying Training Wing, Public Affairs
The Air Force's premiere jazz band,The Airmen of Note, was joined on stage by an old friend during a concert at Texas Christian University April 19.

"I felt like I was 30 years old again," said retired Chief Master Sgt. Joe Eckert, now the director of jazz studies and the saxophone professor at the TCU School of Music.

Eckert left the band in 2004 when he retired from the Air Force and Tuesday night was afforded an opportunity to play a song with them he had never performed during his 20-year Air Force career.

The song, "Who Can I Turn To" by Anthony Newley, featured a solo performance by Eckert who stood at the front of the stage with his cherished saxophone. He was greeted by cheers from his students as well as friends and family in a crowd that filled the concert hall.

"It brought back some memories," said Eckert, who has now played with the band three times since his retirement.

"Mike Crotty, the (Airmen of Note) arranger before Alan Baylock, had written it for Bunky Green, one of the soloists at one of the very first jazz-heritage concerts we did in Washington," said Eckert, reminiscing about a time when he should have played the song.

"At that time, (the concerts) were being held in the Baird Auditorium at the Natural History Museum. Paul Anthony, a local radio personality, was our emcee at the time. Right before we were going to bring Bunky out to play the tune and play his set, Paul who was kind of a practical joker, comes out to the microphone and says, 'Ladies and gentlemen I'm sorry, but there is a fire in the building, and everyone's gonna have to leave.'

"We thought he was kidding but he wasn't. He was serious," said Eckert. "So Bunky Green never got to play that tune with band until a couple of years later when we played at the Jazz Educators conference, which happened to be in Washington D.C. I never actually got to play the tune with the band. Mike gave me a copy when I retired."

Chief Master Sgt. Tim Leahey, the flight chief and a trumpet player for the Airmen of Note, remembered performing with Eckert when the retired chief was still an active duty Airman.

"I tell the young guys (in the band) hey look, not everybody's been perfect their whole career," said Leahey. "I got talked to in my early days and I still have learning to do. I'm still trying to become a better person - a better leader. Joe (Eckert) definitely called me into his office a couple of times and had to put me in line for having too much fun on the band stand.

"Besides that, he is one of the most consistent musicians I have ever met," said Leahey. "In my 10-plus years playing with him, I don't think I ever heard him miss a note."

In addition to his students, the audience included Jackie, Eckert's wife of 38 years. She was in the audience to cheer him on, although the moment for her was bittersweet.

"I'm extremely proud of him," she said. "I felt for him the excitement playing with the band, but also the sadness of not still being with them. I kind of felt the same way actually, because they were a family to me for 20 years.

"They watched our children grow up, and we watched theirs. We went to weddings, and unfortunately, funerals too. But, it's a family, and it was wonderful to be a part of it. I didn't know the Air Force would be in my life, and not for 20 years either, but it was very special - very bittersweet being with them tonight," she said.

At the end of night, Joe and Jackie Eckert took many photos with their old friends, and shared new stories about their lives since the last time the Airmen of Note were in town.

The goal for the jazz ensemble was community outreach, putting a human face on the often faceless entity that is the Air Force. But this night was something more for one family. It was a chance to relive the glory days of a career spent on the road. It brought back memories and reunited friends.

"Once a member of the Airmen of Note, always a member," said Eckert.