PORT ANGELES — From Glenn Miller’s swing to Willy Wonka’s “Pure Imagination,” the Falconaires will fill the space with music Monday.
The Falconaires, the U.S. Air Force’s 16-piece jazz band, is back to give a free concert at 7 p.m. in the Port Angeles High School auditorium — the place that went quite dark last time it was in town.
It was November 2010, and a windstorm put the power out shortly after the band began to play.
Power outage
“We had to usher 1,100 people out of the auditorium in the dark” using cellphone glow and flashlights, concert organizer Bobbie Usselman recalled.
The Falconaires vowed to return to Port Angeles “and finish what we started,” said Master Sgt. Jason Crowe, band leader and bass player.
Based at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., the big band has been on the road — traveling from the Vail, Colo., Jazz Festival to New Orleans to Connecticut and Massachusetts over the past year — playing jazz and patriotic music. “Malaguena,” made famous by Stan Kenton, the Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Armed Services medley are on the roster for Port Angeles, Crowe said, along with the above-mentioned “Pure Imagination” from the movie “Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
New singer
That’s one of the songs belonging to the Falconaires’ new singer, Texan and Technical Sgt. Krista Joyce.
All Falconaires concerts are free, Crowe noted, since like the rest of the Armed Services bands, these musicians belong to the American people.
All this time on the road can get tiring — but it is a joyous thing, he said, to look out from the stage and see people loving the music.
“We’re representing our Air Force brothers and sisters across the world,” added Crowe.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Doors of the Port Angeles High School auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave., will open at 6:30 p.m. Monday, and no tickets are needed for admission.
As this event is sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News, Editor and Publisher John Brewer will welcome the audience at 7 p.m.
Then the Stardust Big Band’s 19 players, who are donating their performance, will play for half-hour to warm up the crowd for the Falconaires.
Earlier in the day, the Falconaires will present a jazz clinic for high school music students from across the North Olympic Peninsula.
The band’s Port Angeles visit is co-sponsored by Port Angeles High School, its band boosters club and the Stardust band.
For more information about Monday’s concert, phone Brewer at 360-417-3500 or Usselman, who is a Stardust clarinetist and Sequim’s deputy city clerk, at 360-681-3432.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
