BIDDEFORD — For the second time in less than a year, a prestigious military band will be performing in Biddeford.

The Airmen of Note, a premier jazz ensemble of the U.S. Air Force Band, will offer a free public concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28 at the Biddeford Middle School Performing Arts Center. Tickets for the performance will be available starting March 19 at www.eventbrite.com and listed under USAFAirmenofNote.   

The Biddeford concert is the final performance of a nine-day trip through New England for the ensemble musicians and is a journey back to his Maine roots for Airmen of Note bass trombonist Technical Sgt. Ben Polk, who grew up in Greenbush.

“I’m really excited and honored to make this trip with the band,” Polk said. “It’s an honor to get to play for friends and family I haven’t seen in quite a while as a member of the Airmen of Note.”

The ensemble was created in 1950 to carry on the tradition of Major Glenn Miller’s Army Air Corps dance band and since its inception it has presented jazz performances to audiences throughout the United States as well as dozens of countries in Europe and Asia. It also regularly performs on radio broadcasts and on recordings that are heard on hundreds of media outlets worldwide.

During the history of the Airmen of Note, the Glenn Miller Big Band type of music has remained a central ingredient in its playlist, but while staff arrangers have continued the band’s commitment to tradition, they also have shown a willingess to experiment with musical innovation. The ensemble has commissioned works by such arrangers as Bob Florence, Bob Mintzer, Rob McConnell and Bill Holman, Sammy Nestico and fellow Airmen of Note alumnus Tommy Newsom, who gained fame as a member of the Tonight Show Band and a frequent comedic target of Johnny Carson.

The Airmen of Note have recorded and performed with many jazz legends and luminaries swuch as as Allen Vizzutti, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Al Jarreau, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Kurt Elling, Paquito D’Rivera, Nicholas Payton and Karrin Allyson.

According to Tammy Carusone, choral director at Biddeford Middle School, students are encouraged to come up after the concert and speak with the musicians and the ensemble will remain on stage to answer questions.

Carusone said having the Airmen of Note appear in Biddeford not long after the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band gave a concert here last fall is great for the community.

“It is an incredible opportunity for the greater Biddeford community to have these bands come and play,” she said. “It is amazing for our students to be able to hear world-class musicians at their own school for free. 

“I think that it says a lot about the Biddeford schools in general and the support that this district has for our performing arts. Everyone from administrators to custodians is supportive of bringing these concerts to our community and it is no small undertaking,” Carusone said. “I feel so fortunate to work in a place that has such fantastic music educators and a beautiful space that is available to host these events. The students will remember these concerts long into their adulthood and hopefully it will inspire some of them to pursue their musical goals.”

— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 ext. 326 or by email at editor@journaltribune.com.