Air Force Band Tribute to John Williams

[airmanjerm 78]

Hi all,

The announcement about our Air Force Band's Tribute Concert to John Williams was posted on the main page last week, but I wanted to post this to verify the time of the concert.

The program will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 16th and should last between an hour and a half to two hours.

Please note: The program we are performing at Disneyland will NOT be a John Williams Tribute, but will feature a few of his works.

Also note that this is not the Air Force Band from Washington D.C., but the USAF Band of the Golden West, stationed at Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA. We have an interesting connection to John Williams, as he was a member of our organization in the early 1950s. He was a pianist/arranger in the USAF Band at March AFB in the L.A. area; in the 1990s that band was relocated to Travis AFB. If anyone is interested, I have a newspaper clipping from the March AFB Newspaper ("The Beacon") from 1954 of a feature story about their 22-year-old band arranger. PM me and I can send it to you as an attachment if you'd like.

Just as a preview, here are a few of the works the band will be performing:

March from "1941"

Suite from "Catch Me If You Can" (w/ Alto Sax feature)

Star Wars selections: Imperial March, Princess Leia, The Forest Battle, Cantina Band, Yoda's Theme, Main Titles

"Anything Goes" from TOD (a transcription of the movie version, sung in English)

Raider's March

March from "Midway"

Hymn to the Fallen

Vocal Suite: "Big, Beautiful Ball," "Nice to Be Around," and "If We Were in Love"

...and a few others.

Please remember, this is a free concert.

[Lurker 5]

Thanks. I hope I can make it to this. You know the Warner Grands website doesn't have a listing for this.

Neil

[airmanjerm 78]

Thanks. I hope I can make it to this. You know the Warner Grands website doesn't have a listing for this.

Neil

Hmm...there should be, thanks for pointing that out. Unfortunately I can't access their website due to a computer "filter" here on base, but I can let our Media/Publicity folks know so that they can ask about it.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of links that do work:

http://events.presstelegram.com/san-pedro-...r-grand-theatre

Also:

http://www.losangeles.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123121349

...in further news, they are down the hall rehearsing "The Forest Battle" right now, and I can just never get enough of that one. The transcription lies really well for the wind ensemble, which is nice; some of his works don't really come off that well in transcription. (We actually canned a "Harry Potter" suite because of that...).

Hope you can make it out to the show!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I would love to, but I have no means of transportation to Los Angeles. I wish you folks good luck in your concert.

[Hitch 57]

It's going to be a cracker of a night. You'll have to give us a detailed report on it afterwards. Have a great time.

[airmanjerm 78]

It's going to be a cracker of a night. You'll have to give us a detailed report on it afterwards. Have a great time.

Thanks! I'll do what I can, although as the band's Staff Arranger/Composer I don't normally go on tours, and unfortunately I will be missing this one as well. As usual, all my work is done in the time "before" rehearsals begin...no reason I couldn't come on here and let you all know about it though, in case anyone is in L.A. and would like to know about it.

However, I will definitely be getting a recording, and may be able to post it (or at least some selections) on my own website if anyone is interested in having a listen. I'm particularly excited about the vocal tunes I had to arrange/transcribe/etc. for them, as they are all nice tunes that (other then the "Anything Goes" treatment) aren't the "big ones" that most people recognize John Williams for. So, I'll probably have those up for a while anyways just to share.

ALSO, TO BE HONEST: I've been listening to them rehearse down the hall for a week now, and they sound great, but during the time they're gone I'll be happy to catch up on my new 5-CD Indiana Jones Complete Ultimate Total Remastered Collector's Soundtrack Collection!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

That would be excellent. Also, I love it when orchestras try something different.

[Saxbabe 28]

airmanjerm: Thanks so much for the informative posts! I sure wish I lived in L.A. so I could see this.

Who arranged the other selections you guys are playing, also USAF Band arrangers, or are they some of the Hal Leonard publications? It would be super if you could post any bits from your arrangements and the concert on your site, I know we'd all love to hear them. The thought of Forest Battle is mouthwatering!

Best of luck to the band for Sunday.

~Greta

[airmanjerm 78]

airmanjerm: Thanks so much for the informative posts! I sure wish I lived in L.A. so I could see this.

Who arranged the other selections you guys are playing, also USAF Band arrangers, or are they some of the Hal Leonard publications? It would be super if you could post any bits from your arrangements and the concert on your site, I know we'd all love to hear them. The thought of Forest Battle is mouthwatering!

Best of luck to the band for Sunday.

~Greta

Hi Greta, Thanks for the question about the arrangements. Here's a rundown of the show and who did which arrangement. (All tunes are by John Williams of course...except "Anything Goes," which is originally by Cole Porter, but we all know that). All of these are published except for the Raider's March and the ones I did.

March from "1941" - Trans. Paul Lavender

Escapades from "Catch Me If You Can" - Trans. Jay Bocook

Anything Goes from TOD - Arr. John Williams, Trans. Jeremy Martin (unpublished)

Star Wars Trilogy -

* The Imperial March - Trans. Donald Hunsberger

* Princess Leia's Theme - Trans. Donald Hunsberger

* The Cantina Band - Trans. Jeremy Martin (unpublished)

* The Forest Battle - Trans. Donald Hunsberger

* Yoda's Theme & Main Titles - Trans. Donald Hunsberger

(Intermission)

Raider's March - Arr. Bauer (unpublished)

Big, Beautiful Ball - Arr. Martin (unpublished)

Nice to Be Around - Arr. Martin (unpublished)

If We Were in Love - Trans. Martin (unpublished)

March from "Midway" - Trans. Jim Curnow

Hymn to the Fallen - Trans. Paul Lavender

America: The Dream Goes On - Arr. Penticoff

Whew!

My impressions on the arrangements/transcriptions are that most of them lie really well with a wind band. the marches from "1941" and "Midway" are pretty standard march fare, so they fit the band world easily. The Hunsberger "Star Wars" is becoming a staple in bands across the country, and it is pretty much the same difficulty as the orchestral counterpart. "The Forest Battle" is particularly challenging, but is a great transcription.

The only one I don't really care for is his treatment of the Main Titles...the previous movement "Yoda's Theme" segues into some of the music from the opening of the movie itself (the spot in the movie where we get the piccolo solo and we see the Tattoine planetscape, etc.). From there we get into the Main Titles...I'm disappointed that the rest of the work is so great, but Hunsberger lets me down at the end! (haha). It is a GREAT part of the score itself, just strange that he'd leave out the big opening and instead work in the Main Titles that way. Oh well, they are sounding great, at least from my office down the hall.

I am satisfied with my own transcriptions and arrangements, particularly of course "Anything Goes," which is just a ton of fun to put in front of them...lol. I really fell in love with "Nice to Be Around" while working on it...I wasn't previously as familiar with that one.

The Bauer arrangement of Raiders is unpublished (and handwritten), but pretty much the standard version. The only unsettling thing to a Williams "Purist" such as (well, all of us on this board!) is that it's just the main theme, and omits the middle section (Marion's Theme, or whichever movie). Still, the show is long enough!

Anyways I'll definitely try to get up a recording of at least some of them, so far I have a recording of this past Friday's rehearsal, which is a little raw in places (haha), but I'm sure the show will be a little better. Let me know if you're interested in hearing any of the ones that are currently pretty decent sounding and I will see what I can do.

[tjguitar 0]

I hope to make it. Any JWFans want to get dinner after?

I forgot I have to work. It should be an awesome concert, tho.

[Saxbabe 28]

Thanks for the elaboration!

IIRC, my college band did some of the Hunsberger Star Wars before I got there...the segue into Main Titles rings a bell! Yeah, not sure why he chose to do it that way...

Shame about Raiders leaving Marion's Theme out, I love that part of the piece. But the concert lineup looks great!

Do put up some stuff sometime...but no hurry at all.

EDIT: To ask who the sax soloist is?

[airmanjerm 78]

EDIT: To ask who the sax soloist is?

One of our own saxophonists (and also our first sgt) is playing the alto sax feature on "Escapades."

He's also playing soprano on "Anything Goes" and all the Star Wars stuff, including Cantina Band...I heard him say today he hasn't played that kind of program on soprano sax since college...lol.