The Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus performed in Nashville, TN yesterday- and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to!  The musicians were absolutely fantastic!  The show featured marches like Sousa’s “Fairest of the Fair,” “El Capitan,” and “Armed Forces Medley.”  My personal favorite was the “Selections from Les Miserables.”  The arrangement featured MANY soloists from the Chorus, and they were all wonderful!  There are three concerts remaining for this tour- March 27 in Greenville, TN; March 28 in Montreat, NC; and March 29 in South Boston, VA.  If you live near these areas please make a point to attend the concert, you will have a great time!

Visit the US Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus website

Check out the new Youtube video from USAF Max Impact Rock Group, “Send Me!”

Watch Video

Information about the video from Youtube:

Max Impact, the premier rock band of the United States Air Force, is thrilled to release a new video featuring their original song “Send Me.” Produced with the assistance from Air Force Television, the video integrates footage of the amazing Airmen from Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC.)

A collaboration between Senior Master Sgt. Matt Ascione and Master Sgt. Ryan Carson, “Send Me” began as a request for a song from a leader in the Special Tactics community who saw one of the band’s high-energy performances. He wanted to highlight his men’s courage and selfless service, as well as inspire them to new heights.

Drawing inspiration from the “Special Tactics” motto “First there … that others may live,” this exciting original composition tells the story of highly-trained Air Force professionals and the commitment and sacrifices they make each day as they serve.

Along with the other members of Max Impact, the featured vocalist on the song, Carson has deployed overseas on a number of occasions and has seen firsthand the dedication of our nation’s front line warrior Airmen. He explains, “This song was written to honor, encourage and inspire our Special Tactics Airmen. Whether a combat controller, pararescueman, tactical air control party or combat weatherman– these Airmen exemplify the warrior ethos and our core values of integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do.”

Max Impact is one six performing units of The United States Air Force Band, Washington, DC.

www.usafband.af.mil

Jack Kopstein has launched a new website that features an encyclopedia of military band musicians, music, and conductors from around the world!  This is a very valuable resource, be sure to check it out!

World Book of Military Music

Contributed By: Jack Kopstein

The band has long been recognized as one Canada’s finest military bands. Their record of achievement is superb particularly in view of the fact that the band is a reserve unit of the Canadian Forces. The albums are representative of  the great music of the military band repertoire .

The Fifteenth Field Regiment began in February 1920 after a decision by the Canadian Artillery to formally establish a militia unit in Vancouver. Originally called the Fifteenth Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery, the unit consisted of several horse drawn cannons manned by a group of battle hardened veterans of the First World War. Although there is no official record of a band in the early years of the unit, other sources indicate military bands performed throughout British Columbia as early as the 1860s. At the beginning of the twentieth century and throughout World War One, there was a community of military musicians that supported other Vancouver area militia units and there is no doubt that bands were a regular part of regimental life during the early years of the Fifteenth Field Regiment, too. The Canadian Artillery has a long history of supporting musicians and was the first regiment to establish a full-time band in 1879. By the time the Fifteenth Field Regiment moved into the Bessborough Armoury, a purpose built facility in what was then the outskirts of the city in the Kitsilano neighbourhood in 1934, a band was part of the establishment.

Over the years, the Band of the Fifteenth Field Regiment has served its unit at virtually every military and social function held where music has been needed. The band is an integral part of the Regiment’s identity and has contributed to its community footprint within Vancouver and British Columbia. In the early years, many of the musicians were active bombardiers who participated in regimental exercises with their own gun battery. Band members have served as Regimental Sergeants Major and one year, the band gun battery even won the annual shooting competition!

Since 1994, the Band of the Fifteenth Field Regiment has been the only militia band on the mainland of British Columbia and, as such, its duties have expanded greatly to involve the provision of musical support to all militia units in the province. Now, it is not unusual to see the band on parade in Kelowna or Kamloops in the interior or as far east as Castlegar or Trail in the Kootenay region of the province. In recent years, the band has become a vital tool in public relations for the Army. In its capacity as the “Brigade Band”, the group serves as musical ambassadors for the Canadian Forces performing concerts, marching in parades and entertaining the public at community celebrations everywhere in British Columbia and as far away as Québec City, California, Holland and Hong Kong.

In 2000, the band outgrew its facilities in the Bessborough Armoury and relocated to the Garrison Headquarters building near Jericho Beach on English Bay. Although still under command and control of the home regiment, the band functions largely independently as a self contained subunit and performs more than one hundred engagements annually.

Chief Warrant Officer Al Sweet led the band from 1953 until stepping down in 1969.  Major Peter Erwin followed CWO Sweet and led the group until 1984. Upon Major Erwin’s retirement, Captain Richard Van Slyke assumed the position of Director of Music and led the band until 2004. Captain James (Jim) Tempest has been the Director of Music since 2004.

Visit their website: http://www.militarymusic.ca/15fieldband/

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

TAYLOR BRANSON

Born in Washington, D.C., 1880 – Died in Bethesda, Maryland, 1969

Taylor Branson was a native of Washington, D.C., who like his predecessor John Philip Sousa, seemed destined for a career in the U.S. Marine Band. His father was a country fiddler who read no music and wanted his son to become a “real musician.” He arranged for the boy to study violin with Marine Band member William Santelmann, who would later direct said band for thirty years. After completing high school, Branson enlisted as a Marine Bandsman at the age of seventeen. He continued the study of violin (with Herman Rakemann) and began taking clarinet lessons with Andrea Coda and composition with Arthur S. Tregina, both members of the same band. He soon became concertmaster of the Marine Band Symphony Orchestra, serving as conductor during the Gridiron Club concerts. Branson was a pioneer in instrumental music broadcasting, conducting regular orchestral programs over NOF, the Naval Air Station, as early as 1919. He later introduced a radio program which was designed to benefit listeners who were invalids – the young announcer at the time was Arthur Godfrey. In 1921, Branson became second leader of the Marine Band and in 1927, he was appointed leader. In addition to American music, Branson programmed a great deal of music from other lands, including South America. One of his most prized awards, the “Cross of Boyaca,” came from the Colombian Minister, Miguel Lopez Mumarejo, for his “untiring efforts in the promotion of closer cultural relations between the peoples of the Americas, by means of the diffusion of Latin American music in the United States.” As a member of the prestigious Gridiron Club in Washington, Branson served as its musical director for over twenty-five years. He was also active as a guest conductor and adjudicator – in 1930, he was on the national high school panel which awarded first place to the Hobart High School Band, conducted by William D. Revelli. After serving with the Marine Band for over forty-one years, he retired with the rank of captain in 1940. At his death in 1969, Taylor Branson was survived by his wife, three daughters, and two sons.

Most of Branson’s marches were dedicated to the Marine Corps, including: Marine Corps Institute; General Lejeune; Tell It to the Marines; Marines of Belleau Woods; The President’s Own; Eagle, Globe and Anchor; Headquarters, U.S.M.C.; and Marine Corps Reserves. Others include The Times Picayune Centennial and Benjamin Franklin University. (Information from Kenneth Berger, John Burroughs, Jim Mann, Albert F. Schoepper, and the U.S. Marine Band.)

The 1st Co GFG BAND
1st Company Governor’s Foot Guards

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

When the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut passed the resolution in 1771, which formed the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard, no mention was specifically made of a band of musicians, although a petition by commandant Captain Samuel Wyllys in the Company’s first year of operation sought reimbursement for monies spent on fifes and drums.  Thus, it is clear that music has always been part of the Foot Guard.  It was not until 1904 however, that the First Company formed its own permanent band with its members a part of the rank and file of the Foot Guard.

Today, band members are enlisted personnel of the Company, full members of the First Company and of the State Organized Militia, who train and drill side by side with the Foot Guard’s infantry unit.

Since 1904, the band has marched parades and performed concerts at many prestigious events, adding the color, ceremony, and precision associated with rich military tradition. In 1907, the newly-formed band performed a concert at  a special ceremony held at Gettysburg, and in 1908, Foot Guard Bandmaster Francis Sutherland performed as guest cornet soloist with John Philip Sousa’s band when they performed at the Foot Guard’s Armory on High Street in Hartford. Through the years, the band has represented the State of Connecticut in several Presidential  inaugurations, at the New England Governors’ Conference, and in escort duties for foreign dignitaries and European royalty.

Led by Captain David Carlson, today’s band performs many concerts, parades, ceremonies, and special events throughout the Northeast. The band also participates frequently in joint concerts with college and public school bands throughout Connecticut.

Recent memorable band performances include the launching and commissioning of the submarine USS Hartford; the 350th Anniversary celebration of York, Pennsylvania; annual appearances at Hartford’s Riverfest; the “Convergence” parade at Lincoln Center in New York, the 225th birthday of Connecticut’s Old State House and July 4th parades in Philadelphia and Washington DC, and its Centennial Concert at the Bushnell Memorial’s Belding Theater.

Of course, every four years the Band participates in the Governor’s Inauguration Day ceremonies as the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard upholds its chartered duties and commitment to the Governor and the State of Connecticut.

For more information, please visit the band’s website at http://www.governorsfootguard.com/