History of the Airmen of Note

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Kenny Smukal or Vaughn Nark, Jimmy Lay, Larry Trautman, Bruce Nelson or Tim Bowen (tp), Dave Steinmeyer, Rick Lillard, Gary Hall (tb), Mark Madden or Dave Morgan (btb), Ernie Hensley, Gene Gaydos (as), John Dodge or Lee Lachman (ts), Roger Hogan (ts-arr) or Doug Gately (ts), Les Whittington (bs), Gil Cray (p-arr), Ephraim Woolfolk or Brent McKesson (b), Rick Whitehead (g), Skip Shaffer or Mark Hynes (d), Doug Scarborough or Bobbie McCleary (vcl), Mike Crotty (arr)

By the time that Capt. Egge retired, it was apparent that the Airmen of Note had established considerable momentum.  The personnel were all skilled professionals, most of whom had been playing together for a long time.  The band had a great book, which was constantly being updated with fresh, new material.  And the performance schedule of military protocol jobs, concert tours, recording dates for the Serenade in Blue, summer park concerts, and occasional special appearances at jazz festivals and music conferences was well established.

Due primarily to retirements, there was almost a complete turnover in the sax section during Ernie’s tour as leader.  There were key changes in the other sections as well, with people coming on the band that would become mainstays well into the 1980’s and beyond.  Les Whittington had replaced Dave Napier on bari sax.  Tenor saxophonists John Dodge and Roger Hogan retired in 1977 and 78 and were replaced by Lee Lachman and Doug Gately.  Lachman was hired to ultimately move into the lead alto chair, so about six months before he retired, Ernie switched with Lachman and moved back to his old jazz tenor saxophone chair.  Brent McKesson returned on bass after a year and a half as leader of the rock group Mach One.  Vaughn Nark came on the band to play lead trumpet, and Tim Bowen returned from the Ceremonial Band  to join the trumpet section.  In the trombone section, Rick Lillard filled the jazz trombone slot, and Dave Morgan came in on bass trombone.

Doug Scarborough from the Singing Sergeants sang with the band for a time during 1977, but it was not until the following year that the Note finally found a vocalist that really fit in with the band’s style.  She was Bobbie McCleary, who was “discovered” on the band’s 1977 west coast trip.  Bobbie could perform admirably in almost any style - jazz, pop, ballad, blues, or rock - and she did it in a style that was all her own.

In 1978 the Note was assigned a date in the Constitution Hall Guest Artist series.  Ernie arranged for Sarah Vaughan to perform with the band, and perform she did, to an enthusiastic, standing room only crowd! 

Equally exciting was the opportunity to perform alongside many of the all-time jazz greats at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 1977.  The Note was spotted twice, first as a featured band, and later backing trumpeter Clark Terry and pianist John Lewis, with charts by Gerald Wilson.

The Mobile Jazz Festival brings together top high school jazz ensembles from all around the country to perform and to participate in clinics and classes.  The Airmen of Note was invited to serve as the “house band,” backing the well-known jazz personalities serving as clinicians, then putting on a performance of its own.  The contacts made here led to further collaboration with those artists, including many of the performances at the Jazz Artist concerts.

Although not quite in the category of a pure jazz performance, but just as well received, was an outdoor concert at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio in August 1978.  The Museum was honoring retired General Jimmy Doolittle, who led a daring raid on Tokyo early in World War II.  The program included a tribute to Major Glenn Miller and the AAF Band, who had entertained Doolittle’s Eighth Air Force many times while in England.  The Note was invited to back former Miller stars Ray McKinley, Paula Kelly and the Modernaires.

Under Ernie the band made a return trip to the Mike Douglas show, this time to back Cab Calloway.  The band also traveled to the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore to tape one of Yale Lewis’s Jazz Insights shows: The Military and All That Jazz.  It examined the contributions of black musicians to music of the U.S. military.  Performing with the Note on this program were Damita Jo, Bill Harris, Clea Bradford and the Buddy Tate/Scott Hamilton Quintet.

The twice-yearly concert tours continued to be an important part of the band’s performance schedule.  In preparation for each tour Ernie would meet with his arrangers and develop a theme for the concerts.  Typically four or five new charts were commissioned for each tour.

On the down side was the cancellation of the Serenade in Blue radio series in 1977 after nearly 30 years of continuous airing.  The reason was budgetary constraints.  This deprived the Airmen of Note of the regular national radio exposure that was so important to the success of the concert tours.

Airmen of Note album Just In Time

The other problem was the near demise of the band itself in the spring of 1978.  Budget trimming was again the problem.  The Air Force Band had been asked to cut its operating budget, and it appeared that the only way they could do this was to reduce personnel.  The proposed solution was eliminating the Airmen of Note.  In desperation, Ernie appealed to the music community, which rallied to the band’s support.  Even Down Beat magazine championed the Note’s cause, providing editorial support and calling on its readers to write to their Congressmen.

The Airmen of Note survived, but Ernie decided that it was time to move on.  In June 1979 he retired from the Air Force, and leadership of the Airmen of Note passed on to lead trombonist Dave Steinmeyer.