Music

Master Sgt. Tyler Kuebler, the music director for the Airmen of Note, plays Jingle Bells on clarinet at Union Station Dec. 3. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jim Lotz)

AF Band goes retro to kick off holiday season

By Stephen Losey on December 4, 2015 Offbeat

The Air Force Band yesterday staged its annual surprise performance of holiday music at Union Station in Washington DC on Thursday. Unlike previous years, which were more classically-themed flash mob-style performances, this year’s show nodded to the Air Force’s roots and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The musicians wore Army Air Corps uniforms and played a period-appropriate big band-style arrangement of Jingle Bells — even bringing strings into the mix — before segueing to a choral version of Auld Lang Syne. Swing dancers from New York City helped bring everything home, and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James…

From the parody video "Straight Outta Lackland," posted by Harry Castaneda

Recruiters parody NWA in ‘Straight Outta Lackland’

By Stephen Losey on September 28, 2015 Video

If you need a good laugh to ease into your Monday, we’ve got just what you need. A bunch of Air Force recruiters have taken the moniker R.W.A. — Recruiters With Attitude — and filmed a video parodying N.W.A.’s hip hop classic “Straight Outta Compton.” Their song, “Straight Outta Lackland,” cracks jokes about the life of a recruiter and the ways they sell potential recruits on life in the Air Force. And I’m no hip hop historian, but I’d be willing to bet this is the first rap song to drop a reference to the Air Force Song’s first line, “Off we go…

The Air Force Band performs at its Holiday Flash Mob at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center on Dec. 2. (Courtesy of Air Force/Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Burns)

VIDEO: USAF Band kicks off holiday season with flash mob

By Stephen Losey on December 3, 2014 Video

The Air Force Band on Tuesday delivered a surprise for hundreds of spectators at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center: An outstanding flash mob performance of “Greensleeves/What Child is This” and “Carol of the Bells.” As you can see in the video below, the performance began with a single oboist playing “Greensleeves” beneath the Space Shuttle Discovery, in the James S. McDonnell Space Hanger. She was soon joined by a cellist, another oboist, a harpist, and before long, the performance swelled to dozens of musicians throughout the hanger. The performance moved over to the main section of the hanger…

Rocking out, while still wearing reflective belts

By Brian Everstine on August 9, 2011 Air Force

This video of airmen jamming has started to make the rounds of social media. To steal from the top comment on Youtube, “you guys should go on tour. oh wait …” If they can’t tour, at least the Air Force still has Max Impact.

Browsing: Music