Title: Norman Rockwell Suite
Composer: Hayato Hirose
▶️ Publisher: https://www.jwpepper.com/Norman-Rockwell-Suite/10011250.item#.ZDMxgXbMLuo
Mvt 1: The Marriage License – 0:00 – 2:35
Mvt 2: Shuffleton Barbershop – 2:36 – 5:18
Mvt 3: Christmas Homecoming – 5:19 – 8:08
Major Eric D. Patterson – Producer / Conductor / Commander (562nd AF Band – ANG Band of the Southwest)
Captain Vu Nguyen – Producer / Conductor / Commander (561st AF Band – ANG Band of the West Coast)
Major Michael Willen – Producer / Commander (AF Band of the Pacific)
Bruce Leek – Recording / Mixing / Mastering Engineer
Recorded at Pacifica High School, Oxnard, CA
SMSgt Jurgen Schwarze – Project Manager
SrA Rich Smith – Graphic Design and Photographer
TSgt Alex Koenig – Photographer
About the Bands
The 562nd Air Force Band, the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest, traces its history to October 1941, with the formation of the 62nd Army Air Forces Band in Augusta, Georgia. Following World War II the band was assigned to the California Air National Guard and has been based in the Los Angeles area with the 146th Air Lift Wing for the past 60 years. At the time of the recording, the band was under the command of Major Eric Patterson.
The 561st Air Force Band, the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast, was also created during the second World War and later assigned to the California Air National Guard. The band has a long history of distinguished service, from a performance at President Eisenhower’s inauguration to recent performances in the vicinity of its home with the 129th Rescue Wing near San Francisco. At the time of this recording the band was under the command of Captain Vu Nguyen.
For this recording, California’s two ANG bands combined into a single wind symphony. The bands are composed of citizen-airmen whose civilian occupations range from professional musicians and music educators to computer programmers, accountants, engineers and law enforcement officers. Band Members meet two days a month to rehearse and perform and they participate in an annual two-week summer tour. During the tour, the band functions as an active-duty band rehearsing, traveling, and performing. In just the 5 years prior to the recording, California’s Air National Guard Bands have performed public concerts across the Western United States, goodwill tours in Peru and Guyana, and for American and Coalition service personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Qatar.
As musical ambassadors, California’s Air National Guard Bands are proud to represent the Golden State, the Air National Guard, and the United States Air Force.
End of an Era
In 2013, a few short years after this recording, 6 of the 11 Air National Guard Bands around the country were decommissioned. While the 562nd Air Force Band was spared this cut, the 561st wasn’t so lucky. Some of the 561st’s musicians were absorbed into the 562nd, some found other occupations in the Air National Guard and still others retired from service altogether.
Unfortunately, in 2024 the remaining 5 bands will be decommissioned as well. Almost a century’s tradition of making and celebrating mostly American music, fostering patriotism in and around the United States and supporting military and ambassador missions around the globe, will come to an end. For the musicians and audience members alike, this is a tremendous loss. With the necessary emphasis on the lethality of the armed forces, it is a shame that a fraction of the budget couldn’t continue to be spared to use music to win the hearts and minds of all who are touched by it.
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