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USAF jazz ensemble coming to Niswonger

Music feeds our soul and is a grand celebration of life. When that life giving opportunity is free, we rejoice! Shouts of joy are in order as the unique opportunity to experience The United States Air Force’s Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble will be available to 1,200 area residents on Monday, September 9, starting at 7:30 p.m., at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. 

By Tafi Stober

This Big Band concert featuring the music of Glenn Miller and other favorites from the Big Band era is a free ticketed event residents of Van Wert County and beyond. Free tickets will be available beginning Monday, August 5, from the Niswonger Box Office. Call 419.238.6722 to reserve seats or visit the Box Office between noon-4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble is a group of 18 professionally enlisted musicians from the USAF Band of Flight (Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton) and the USAF Band of Mid-America (Scott AFB, Illinois) whose repertoire ranges from traditional Big Band jazz, to bebop and swing, to modern jazz. Several of the band’s members are also gifted composers and arrangers, and their compositions are often featured in concert.

The band has backed many jazz greats, including Tex Benecke, Denis DiBlasio, Jamey Aebersold, Mike Smith, Bobby Shew, Allen Vizzutti, Jeff Jarvis, Mike Vax, Vaughn Nark, Bill Porter, Carmen Bradford, Shelley Berg, Joe Morello, Steve Houghton, and Walt Levinsky. 

Furthermore, the ensemble is often requested for featured performances at jazz clinics and festivals throughout the country. Occasionally, the Shades of Blue marches onto home plate to perform national anthems for Chicago White Sox baseball games, or onto center court to perform for Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks NBA games.

The U.S. Air Force Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble

Whether performing for a head of state, before a capacity crowd in northern Wisconsin, or for troops at home and abroad, the Shades of Blue reflects the heritage and pride of our great nation and the United States Air Force. It will be a grand celebration of music as we share in the gratitude of freedom — the freedom of musical expression — and the ability to enjoy it for free, together in the splendor of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.

POSTED: 08/01/19 at 7:28 am. FILED UNDER: News