The Airmen of Note, the premier jazz ensemble of the U.S. Air Force Band, performs a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University. Chief Master Sergeant Brian MacDonald, the band's lead trumpeter and flight chief, talks with Cara Lieurance about the visit. The band is starting a 10-day fall tour that begins in Columbus, Ohio, passes through Indiana and Michigan, including Ypsilanti, and ends in Akron.
The band traces its roots to Glenn Miller, who broke up his civilian band in 1942 to serve. "Some say he took a thousand percent pay cut and joined the military and brought his band into the Army Air Force's dance band," MacDonald says. Miller lost his life during the war, and the Airmen of Note was created in 1950 to carry on his music. The ensemble marked its 75th anniversary last year.
Arrangements are central to the band's identity. MacDonald points to former leader Sammy Nestico: "What many people don't know is that all of the great arrangements that were made famous by the Basie band, Sammy Nestico actually originally wrote them for the Airmen of Note." Band members still write for the group. One of them is vocalist Tech. Sgt. Clara Campbell, winner of the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. Her arrangement of "Home on the Range" appears on the band's new Americana album, American Portraits, which comes to streaming services in the next few weeks.
The 18-member band plays about 75 full concerts a year, and its members also perform at the White House, the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. MacDonald joined in 1999 and plans to retire next year after 28 years. He says big bands like Maynard Ferguson's and Count Basie's drew him to music: "What better way to do what you love to do in music and serve your country?"
Friday's program features Glenn Miller classics, modern arrangements and patriotic music. It may also include a chart by WMU jazz professor Dr. Scott Cowan, who played beside MacDonald in the jazz band at the University of Miami in their college years. Free tickets can be reserved at wmich.edu/music/events. Any open seats go to people without tickets 15 minutes before the concert.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
