USAF Band teams up with New York Voices for recording

The New York Voices, a Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble, team up with the United States Air Force Band’s jazz component, the Airmen of Note in Gabriel Hall Sept. 10. Students from James Hubert Blake High School and residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home attended the recording. This recording was the start of the 2009 Jazz Heritage Series, during which the band will play three concerts in the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University. For more information log on to www.usafband.af.mil or call the 24-hour concert line at (202) 767-5658. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexandre Montes)

USAF Band teams up with New York Voices for recording

Kim Nazarian, a musician from the Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble, New York Voices, sings during a recording with the United States Air Force Band’s jazz component, the Airmen of Note, in Gabriel Hall Sept. 10. Students from James Hubert Blake High School and residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home attended the recording. This recording was the start of the 2009 Jazz Heritage Series, during which the band will play three concerts in the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University. For more information log on to www.usafband.af.mil or call the 24-hour concert line at (202) 767-5658. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexandre Montes)

Jazz Heritage Series is Up and Running

Published Sept. 25, 2009
By Master Sgt. Brian McCurdy
The USAF Band

BOLLING AFB, D.C. -- The Jazz Heritage Series, which began this year's concerts on Friday, September 11, got off to a hot start with the New York Voices. Not only did they perform with the Airmen of Note at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium, but they also made a concert recording in Gabriel Hall--the home of The United States Air Force Band--for future radio and internet broadcast. The next concert in the series will take place on Friday, October 2nd, and will feature jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco.

Friday, Oct. 2 is the second concert of the series and features organist Joey DeFrancesco. From the very beginning, the Philadelphia native established his credentials with virtuoso technique and an innate soulfulness on the organ. Throughout the 1990s, DeFrancesco was widely recognized as spearheading a renewed interested in the Hammond organ, an instrument that had fallen out of favor among musicians and the public since its golden period during the 1960's and early 70's.

No organist today plays with the skill, harmonic depth, and authority of this phenomenonal musician from Philadelphia. With over 20 solo releases and historic associations with legends such as Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones, and John McLaughlin, DeFrancesco's place is forever cemented in the idiom's history.

Joey DeFrancesco

The series concludes on Friday, November 6th with baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. The Bethpage, New York native started his music career by learning alto saxophone during his teenage years on Long Island. Today he is critically acclaimed and recognized as a major voice on the baritone saxophone. His playing is marked by an aggressive rhythmic sense, an intelligent and creative harmonic approach and perhaps most importantly--a strong and incisive wit.

Smulyan has shared the stage and the recording studio with trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Stan Getz, pianist Chick Corea, timbales king Tito Puente, and R&B/Blues and soul icons Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Diana Ross.

Gary Smulyan

Now in its 20th year, the Jazz Heritage Series provides a wonderful opportunity for listeners to experience first hand the professionalism of the United States Air Force through concerts featuring masters of the only American-born art form--jazz music. The list of guest artists who have appeared on the series reads like a "who's who" in the jazz industry.

All concerts in the Jazz Heritage Series start at 8 p.m. and are free and open to the public. No tickets are needed. Lisner Auditorium is located at 730 21st Street Northwest, on the campus of George Washington University. The nearest metro stations are Foggy Bottom and GWU.

For more information about concerts by The United States Air Force Band, call (202) 767-5658 or visit the calendar on our website. Be sure to keep checking our website for information about local radio broadcasts of the Jazz Heritage Series. Also look for the programs to be available on our website in early spring 2010.