By KEITH GRANT
Stellar Brass, one of the Band of the Rockies' two brass-percussion ensembles, will perform a free concert for the public on Thursday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Long Beach's Lindell Elementary School. The concert is being sponsored by the Herald Community Newspapers.
The band, which played at the Olympics this winter, is on one of its two annual tours in support of the Air Force and the Air Force Academy.
We've been trying to get to Long Island for a while, said Tech Sgt. Steve Przyzycki, the group's concert coordinator. There's a high interest on Long Island for the academy. But more importantly, we just try to put a good image out for the Air Force.
The six-piece group is one of the premier bands in the military, and one of the most competitive to get into. Most of the members have either bachelors or masters degrees in music, and they recruit the nation's top musicians from both the military and civilian world. Przyzycki, in fact, went through basic training at age 31 after being recruited for the band.
It's quite an honor to serve my country through music, Przyzycki said.
The imaginative brass band consists of two trumpets, a horn, a trombone, a tuba and a myriad of percussion instruments, which combine to create a variety of styles that members feel appeal to a wide range of audiences.
There's something for everyone. There's rock, jazz, Latin, country. The band's set list makes for a perfect family show, Przyzycki says.
All of the groups that comprise the 75-member U.S. Air Force Band of the Rockies support military ceremonies and functions involving the men and women of the nation's armed forces. The primary band, itself, was called the Flying Yanks when first started by two American airmen in World War II in England in 1942. It was eventually designated the 739th Army Air Force Band in March 1944, which performed for radio shows, at public appearances, and for Victory Bond drives for the Eighth Air Force.
The 739th Band, which came to be known as one of the best bands in Europe during the war, was inactivated in 1945, but reactivated a decade later and assigned to the new U.S. Air Force Academy in Denver, Colo. Band leaders throughout the Air Force were used to screen their musicians for the best personnel that would fill the positions in what became the Air Force Academy Band.
In 1958, the band moved to the new campus of the Academy near Colorado Springs to support the Cadet Wing at wing parades, military ceremonies and athletic events. From 1958 to 1993, the band contributed to the training and development of more than 26,000 cadets.
On July 1, 1993, the Air Force Academy Band was renamed the United States Air Force Band of the Rockies, and reassigned to Headquarters, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, also located in Colorado Springs.
Today, with the nation at war again, band members are seeing a renewed sense of patriotism, the likes of which probably has not been seen since World War II.
I'm noticing a renewed sense of patriotism and spirit around the country, Przyzycki said. There's a lot of support for the military, today. We're not only doing this for recruiting, but to remind folks that there are guys out there overseas.
