The United States Air Force (USAF) Band of the Pacific, which provided the perfect musical backdrop at the inauguration of Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru by performing the Indian and American national anthems, is turning out to be a crowd-puller even on other days of Asia’s largest air show.
On day 2, the band performed country, jazz and pop numbers and, to the audience’s glee, had a jamming session with the IAF band.
The USAF Band of the Pacific consists of full-time active duty musicians performing in the Indo Asia Pacific region to support military and community relations. “With music, it’s easy to connect with people,” says USAF lead vocalist Master Sergeant Christin Foley.
The band puts in hours of preparation and research to mainly understand the popular and trending music. “We go through radio playlists, chart busters, audience requests, and the organisers also help us understand the audience preferences. With this information, we try putting up a successful show,” Foley explains.
At the 5-day Aero India event, the band will perform a series of popular English numbers of the 80’s era.
Although the band originally consists of 26 members, it is formed from popular music groups such as Pacific Trends and Final Approach, Pacific Showcase jazz ensemble, the Pacific Brass and the Pacific Saxophone Quartet, as well as other protocol groups.
The band performs at Pacific Air Force ceremonies, boosting airmen morale. It also performs for commanders’ outreach needs and objectives throughout an area of responsibility that spans the Pacific Ocean from the Arctic Circle to Australia, and from the Polynesian Islands to the west coast of India, to include all of Southeast Asia.
The USAF Band of the Pacific, stationed at the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, Japan, is a detachment stationed at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Story by www.storyinfinity.com (Subs and Scribes Media Ventures LLP).