History of the Airmen of Note

 

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The Claud Askew - Joe Eckert Band (1998-present)

Rich Haering or Brian MacDonald, Bruce Gates or Kevin Burns, Rich Sigler, Tim Leahey (tp), Joe Jackson, Jeff Martin, Ben Patterson (tb), Dudley Hinote (btb), Joe Eckert, Andy Axelrad (as), Tyler Kuebler or Tedd Baker, Saul Miller (ts), Don New or Doug Morgan (bs), Wade Beach or Steve Erickson (p), Paul Henry (b), Shawn Purcell or Geoff Reecer (g), Claud Askew (d), Tracey Wright, Doug Jordan or Paige Wroble (vcl), Alan Baylock (arr)  

Although in some ways the separation of the music director and superintendent positions appeared to be new to the Airmen of Note (although for a time in the 1980s Dave Steinmeyer was musical director and Larry Trautman served as the NCOIC), there has always been a sharing of responsibility among senior members of the band.  

The division of these responsibilities made it possible for music director Joe Eckert to concentrate on rehearsing and directing the band, and for superintendent Claud Askew to function more efficiently as unit leader and to attend to all of the administrative details associated with running a military organization.  And each was capable of standing in if the other was absent.  The practice of having separate musical and administrative leaders was by then fairly common now throughout the service bands.

The years following Pete's retirement saw a substantial amount of turnover.  Pete’s vacated jazz tenor sax chair was filled by Californian Tyler Kuebler .  Several other changes took place between 1998 and 2000:  pianist Wade Beach retired and was replaced by Canadian Steve Erickson, and lead trumpeter Rich Haering was replaced by Brian MacDonald, a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida native and alumnus of the Maynard Ferguson band. A third change, the retirement of 21-year veteran saxophonist Don New, took place shortly after the 50th anniversary reunion in 2000.  Don was replaced by saxophonist Doug Morgan.

Note Saxophonist Donald New

 

The Note with trumpeter Clark Terry

Also retiring at the same time as Pete was Mike Crotty, the Note’s chief arranger for the past 26 years.  Many of Mike’s responsibilities were assumed by Alan Baylock. Alan is not assigned specifically to the Airmen of Note but is a member of the Air Force Band arranging staff.  This arrangement requires some help keeping the Note’s book stocked with fresh, new arrangements, and the band is continuing to commission work from some of the finest arranger-composers in the business, as well as receiving a steady stream of arrangements from writers in the band.  

In 2000-2001, vocalist Doug Jordan shared vocal duties with Tracey Wright, giving the band yet another exciting dimension for shows and dances.  Doug retired from the Air Force in 2001 after a long career in the Air Force band career field and six years in the D.C. band.

Although it's not possible to recognize them by name, there were also the many support people who kept the Airmen of Note functioning smoothly over the years: the audio engineers and stage managers, the tour managers in the Operations office, the folks in the Public Affairs, Record Production, Personnel and Administration offices, and of course the truck and bus drivers who always got them to the right place at the right time.  Without them there would be no music.

Heading into the 21st century, one of the band’s mission priorities continued to be providing entertainment for Air Force and Department of Defense personnel.  A considerable portion of the calendar was devoted to “protocol gigs” - receptions, dinners, shows, and dances.  These were primarily Air Force functions, but calls came from the Department of Defense and the White House as well.  Unlike the early days, when the band seemed to spend much of its time in aircraft heading for one-night stands at airbases all over the country, most of these jobs were in the Washington area.  But there were still occasions when an Air Force Command function was important enough to call for the Air Force’s premier big band.

Note pianist Wade Beach

Although troop entertainment mission hadn’t changed over the years, the musical preferences of the clientele certainly did.  While there was still a call for music in the styles of Miller and Basie, and Sammy Nestico’s charts never seemed to age, a good share of the Air Force’s personnel was under 30, and they were more interested in current pop tunes.  Keeping good big band arrangements of this kind in the book presented a challenge.  Paul Rawlins devoted much of his efforts to doing just this when he was on the arranging staff, and in later years Joe Jackson , Rich Sigler, and other band members contributed charts.  Another source were local civilian arrangers.  Some of the smaller dance groups playing in the DC area had some excellent pop charts, and the Note commissioned their arrangers to expand these for a full 17-piece dance band.

The Note’s first concert under Joe Eckert ’s direction was an enthusiastically received outdoor performance at the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society Festival in Clarinda , Iowa in June 1998.  Although there were plenty of “Swing Era” classics on the program, these dedicated Miller fans were also treated to selections from the more modern side of the band’s repertoire.  A highlight was Tracey Wright’s soulful vocals.  The band returned to the Clarinda festival in 2000 to perform the “Remembering the Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra: 1943-45” concert.  This was a special treat because, in spite of the tremendous popularity of the Miller music, the arrangements of the full AAF orchestra with strings are only rarely performed.

Airmen of Note vocalist Tracey Wright

During the first four years of the Askew-Eckert regime, concert tours took the band to the Southwest (fall 1998), the upper Midwest (spring 1999), Virginia and North Carolina (fall 1999), the Pacific Northwest (spring 2000), the Northeast (fall 2000), Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee (spring 2001), the lower Midwest (fall 2001), and Florida (spring 2002).  In addition, the Note and strings took the Glenn Miller AAF band show on a 19-day European tour with performances in England , Germany , Luxembourg , Belgium , Turkey , and Portugal .  Under the direction of Air Force Band Commander Col. Lowell E. Graham, the orchestra revisited some of the same areas where Miller’s AAF orchestra performed during World War II.

Because of the continued popularity of this program, the orchestra entered the studio in June, 1999, to tape Remembering the Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra: 1943-45.  This was a landmark event in that many of these selections have never before been recorded in stereo and state-of-the-art sound.

Invitation, recorded in August of 1999, features commissioned arrangements by Tommy Newsom, Matt Harris, John Fluck, Gary Lindsay, Matt Harris, Rich Shemaria, Bob Florence, Mike Tomaro, Peter Herbolzheimer, Rob McConnell, and Chris Sharp.

Pianist James Williams performs with Tim Leahey and the Note

 The Jazz Heritage concert series continued, with appearances by Conrad Herwig, James Moody, David Liebman, Roseanna Vitro, Clark Terry, Jerry Bergonzi, Harold Jones, Mike Mainieri, Kirk Whalum, Kevin Mahogany, Terry Gibbs, Keter Betts, Jimmy Heath and Kenny Werner.  The Note also continued supporting the Air Force Band’s Guest Artist Series, backing stars like Keiko Matsui, Freda Payne, Connie Stevens, Nell Carter, Leslie Uggams and Chaka Khan.  In some of these concerts, the full Airmen of Note provided the backing, but in other cases Note musicians were called in to support the Concert Band or other musical units.

Regular appearances continued to be made at the International Association of Jazz Educators conventions, and in 2000 the Note’s performance featured compositions of Lisa DiSpain and Baikida Carroll as well as a set by mallet master Mike Mainieri.  At the December 1999 edition of the prestigious Midwest Band Clinic, the Airmen of Note joined forces once again with the Air Force Symphony Orchestra to perform the extended works of Duke Ellington.  At the 1999 Percussive Arts Society convention, the band performed with well-known drummers John Riley, Ed Soph, Maria Martinez, Bob Breithaupt and Joe Porcaro.

Invitations to jazz festivals included the Mellon Jazz Festival in Pittsburgh , the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Mobile Jazz Festival (with Toshiko Akioshi, Lew Tabakin, and Dennis Noday), the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow , Idaho , and the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz Festival.

Summer continued to find the Note involved in the outdoor park concerts in the DC area.  Beginning in 1999, the Airmen of Note presented a yearly alumni performance at the Capitol steps.  Appearing at these concerts have been Charlie McIlroy, Doug Gately, Rick Lillard, Wayne Wilkinson, Jimmy Lay, Vaughn Nark, Pete BarenBregge, Dave Steinmeyer, Rick Whitehead and Juanita Williams.  

Note saxophonist Saul Miller with trombonist Conrad Herwig
The Fourth of July has always been a busy day for the Note, and beginning in 1998 the last three years the band has performed as a headline act for tens of thousands of enthusiastic music lovers  in San Francisco and Oakland, California.  These performances were broadcast on television and radio.

The Airmen of Note celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a public performance at Constitution Hall on September 29 2000 , an alumni "jam session" the following afternoon, and a banquet on the following evening with almost 100 Note alumni in attendance.  To help celebrate this “notable” anniversary, the staff delved into the archives and compiled a commemorative CD that displays how the music of the band has evolved over the years.  Fifty Years of the Airmen of Note featured original recordings from each leader’s period with the band and includes guest artist performances by Sarah Vaughan and Joe Williams.

2002 saw additional turnover in the brass and woodwind section.  Lead tenor saxophonist Tyler Kuebler departed to the Miami, Florida area; taking Tyler's place was a tenor saxophonist from the Boston, Massachusetts area, Tedd Baker. Long-time lead trumpeter Bruce Gates retired in January, 2002 in order to pursue his career in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Hired to fill his second trumpet slot (a lead trumpet position) was the lead trumpeter from the USAF Band of the Rockies Falconnaires jazz band, MSgt Kevin Burns.

 

In December 2002, the Note departed for a historic trip to Southwest Asia to entertain troops in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  Traveling from base to base with special guest artists Bebe Wynans and Lari White, the Airmen of Note wowed troops stationed in five different Middle Eastern countries as well as Germany and Italy

 

2003 was a tumultuous year for the Airmen of Note.  In the wake of the trip to the Middle East in late '03, the country was again at war, and the possibility of deployment for troop support missions continued to dominate the day-to-day operation of the band.  For much of the latter part of 2003, the Airmen of Note was placed on standby for deployment to war theatres, and subsequently the band spent much of the intervening time developing the capability to provide troop entertainment in several different configurations, including a three-horn/2 vocalist pop music band.  Combining this with the mandatory training required for deployable Air Force units, it is very easy to see why it was very difficult for the "Note" to maintain its top-flight jazz capability.

And as if things weren't hard enough, in early 2003, longtime tenor saxophonist Saul Miller experienced medical injuries that would eventually require surgery, and would sideline him for the remainder of the year, all of 2004, and well into 2005.  Fortunately, the Note had a "ringer" in the form of USAF Concert Band clarinetist Dave Stump, who had subbed in the "Note" saxophone section before, and the Commander of the Band, Colonel Dennis M. Layendecker was kind enough to place Dave on long-term loan to the "Note".

In other personnel changes in 2003, Tracey Wright accepted an office position and moved out of her position as the band's vocalist due to a medical condition.  Stepping into the position was a vocalist from Broadalbin, New York, named Paige Wroble.  Additionally, guitarist Shawn Purcell separated from the Air force after eight years in.  Replacing him was a guitarist from Arlington, Virginia, Geoff Reecer.
Despite the chaos surrounding the mission and personnel, the Airmen of Note went on to produce one of the best recordings in their history at Bias Studios in Alexandria, Virginia in the summer of 2003, entitled "¡Tiempo Latino! - a Celebration of Latin Jazz",

Note director Joe Eckert with Bias Recording Studio owner and chief engineer, Bob Dawson.

Airmen of Note trumpet section lay down a track.

In addition to featuring a variety of latin styles in arrangements by Alan Baylock and other commissioned writers, the recording was unique for the band in that it also featured arrangements from several of the members of the band, including Rich Sigler, Joe Jackson, Jeff Martin, Ben Patterson and Tedd Baker.

On June 30, 2004 Claude Askew retired from the US air Force after 24 years of service, most of which as the Airmen of Note's drummer.  One month later, Joe Eckert followed suit after 20 years in the Airmen of Note.  Both of them leave a legacy of leadership during a time of great change.  It is a testament to and a direct result of their leadership style that so many of the middle tier of the band were integrally involved in the band and subsequently experienced in all facets of band operations.

Even so, these two left big shoes to fill...