An Interview with Myself!
As many will know by now, I’ve been with the USAF Band Airmen of Note since September of 2017. This means that I am a full-time active duty member of the U.S. Air Force. I’ve learned a lot about myself since joining the military. For example, I CAN make it through basic training! I’ve always been a very organized individual, but I’m now even moreso. I also enjoy admin work, apparently. It was a strange transition at first from the freelance lifestyle, but it was without question the right decision for Lauren and me for a variety of reasons. I composed an interview with myself to cover questions I tend to get:
What kinds of gigs do you play with the Airmen of Note?
The ‘Note keeps me busy. We play around a hundred or so concerts (“missions”) a year, which include two national tours, a summer concert series in the DC metro area, run-outs to jazz festivals, and government/ceremonial events. From February-April we host our annual Jazz Heritage Series, where we invite three leading names in jazz to DC to record and perform a live concert. Some of our most recent guests were vocalist Diane Schuur, saxophonist Ted Nash and trumpeter Sean Jones. (Previous years’ guests include: bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Chris Potter, trumpeter Randy Brecker, guitarist Peter Bernstein, pianist Kenny Barron, and more…) We also usually record a studio album each year. COVID disrupted our “usual” pattern for a solid two years, but we are back to normal operations now.
Our heritage traces back to Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces Dance Band, so many jobs include at least a couple of Miller numbers. We also have a lot of music from the libraries of Count Basie, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Buddy Rich and Stan Kenton. We are constantly commissioning new pieces, and members of the band are always bringing in new arrangements. I recently provisioned my first piece to the band for a studio recording to be released in 2023. All in all we have over 6,000 pieces in our library, of which about a hundred are on call at any given time, and they’re constantly being switched in and out. We do regular outreach at schools and universities in the DC area and while on tour. In DC I have regular small combo gigs playing for Air Force leadership in conjunction with leadership from other services or foreign dignitaries. For these we typically perform a short featured set that can include jazz, rock, country, or a mixture of genres depending on the context. I also have semi-regular jobs at the White House, playing for the Garden Party, Halloween events, and more.
What is it like being a jazz musician in the military?
I wouldn’t trade it for anything at this point. My career in the Air Force, though only 5 years old at this point, has already proven richly rewarding. The job provides me with constant direction and purpose. I have been able to develop and nurture leadership skills, and as such have been entrusted with a high degree of responsibility as a Senior Non-Commisioned Officer. I have an obligation to lead by example; I look out for those under me and remain accountable to those above me. As I’ve already said, I’ve always been a super organized person (bordering on OCD) and this is a trait which has only served me well! The band feels like a giant family, which is very special and unique. Unlike a professional orchestra, it’s small enough to really get to know everyone on a personal level, and that makes it great. Playing with the same people day after day is an unmatchable experience, and you learn a lot about yourself, maintaining interpersonal relationships, and how to keep building shared experiences. You learn how to deal with people when they’re having a bad day, or when you’re having a bad day, and you grow from it. We know what our performances are often several months in advance, and the rehearsal schedules are built to support that. No two weeks are the same between rehearsals and missions. Except for performances, we operate inside the AF work week of M-F, 7:30am-4:30pm (0730-1630). Our rehearsal and performance days are balanced with “mission support” days which allow us to focus on our collateral/additional duties (see below).
All this is not to say that I don’t miss my previous life as a freelancer. It has occasionally been a challenge to strike a healthy work-life balance, and as such I have sometimes struggled to carve out adequate personal time. Work can sometimes be stressful, especially with admin deadlines. The DC scene, like pretty much any other scene, is smaller than the NYC scene. There are plenty of great players here, military and non, but there are way fewer listening rooms. (And I can count on one hand the number of venues I’ve encountered that actually have a good piano. So. Many. Keyboard gigs.) However, the job has undeniable benefits: a regular (and good!) paycheck, job security, healthcare, a government pension if I stay long enough, and the opportunity to work toward big life goals. (We bought a house in 2020!)
Do you do any Air Force stuff aside from playing music?
Yes. Each member of the band has collateral duties which are in some way in support of the band or organization as a whole. The level of responsibility you are handed typically grows with alongside your career, and only you can determine the pace of your own progress. I have held a number of positions since joining the band. For example, I spent my earlier years on the social media team, managing the AoN Facebook page. I also worked on the supply team, helping to procure goods and services for other members (i.e. instruments, uniform items, repair services, etc.). More recently, I entered the operations world as tour manager, managing all scheduling and logistics related to band performances outside the Washington, DC area (tours and festival run-outs). This was a hugely gratifying job, but also frustrating as the pandemic occasionally hampered our ability to operate normally. Presently, I am the NCOIC of Flight Operations. I manage the band’s day-to-day calendar and handle all logistics for performances in the local area.
Do you have time for anything else outside of the Air Force?
Yes! It’s been very important to me from the beginning to stay engaged with myself as an artist. By this point I’ve met a great number of other musicians in the DC area, many of whom are in sister service bands (Navy Commodores, Army Blues, Army Jazz Ambassadors, etc), but a bunch who are just really great local musicians. Unfortunately, there aren’t nearly as many venues in DC that are dedicated listening rooms or jazz clubs. Add Baltimore in and there are a few more, but there’s not a place that has the vibe of a Smalls or a Cornelia Street Cafe (a devastating COVID casualty). Blues Alley is great, and has a great piano, but that’s one spot. The small scene has only inspired me to create my own opportunities. I’ve been writing music more, and have enjoyed adding to my list of tunes to learn. I’m able to get up to NYC and back on a whim if the Vanguard has somebody I’m dying to see. This is a comforting fact, and I’ve made a pact with myself to make regular visits to keep my own artistic well filled and keep in touch with friends and mentors there. There’s another record on the horizon, but it’s only in the very formative stages for now.
Do you miss NYC?
Absolutely. I miss the ready availability of great music any night of the week. In some ways I was working so hard between teaching and playing that I didn’t always have the energy to see music when I was living there; now I wish I had taken better advantage of everything at my fingertips! I make an effort to see stuff whenever someone of interest rolls through Blues Alley. I miss being involved with projects that felt like they made up the pulse of the jazz scene; playing people’s original music and then doing a bunch of gigs at the innumerable listening rooms around town. There’s a scene for that here too, but it’s not the same, more because of the lack of supportive venues than anything else. Also, DC is so spread out geographically that getting together to play a session at someone’s home requires more planning and can’t be as impromptu as just hopping on the train and heading up to Harlem. I greatly miss my friends, but it’s been great to stay in touch and see them when I visit town. All of them are up to amazing things themselves, so it’s been cool to see where everyone’s careers are taking them.
All this to say, I do miss NYC, but DC is also great. It just requires a different set of goals and an updated understanding of how to achieve them. I’m making my own opportunities now, out of necessity, and it feels great. DC is such a beautiful, clean, outdoorsy city which lends itself well to exercise, and that alone becomes a source of inspiration. There are trees everywhere! Residential buildings are beautiful and colorful and range from neighborhoods filled with townhomes to Victorian mansions. The government buildings, monuments and museums are equally beautiful with their marble facades, columns, domes, and lawns.
If you made it this far…thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more updates and news!
