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Jazz night in Baghdad bebops with Airmen’s notes |
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Written by Tech. Sgt. Jason Tudor
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Thursday, 04 August 2005 |
8/1/2005 - BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFPN) -- If
you close your eyes, lick the sand off your teeth and listen, you would
swear you had been dropped into some Soho nightclub.
Ragamuffin musicians clad in hip suits shuffle in after a meal uptown.
Instruments clatter from their cases and get propped on stands. After
some quick glad-handing of friends, a few wires get plugged in. Some
quick scales peep out of the horns before a deep voice intones a mellow
introduction. “Welcome to jazz night.” Then, music.
Alto saxophone notes twist smoothly on the same breeze that carries the
cool air across the small room. The thread of a muted trumpet is wound
between, causing toes to tap, heads to bob and fingers to snap in time,
the room alight with jazz phrases that ask you to do nothing more than
just be cool.
Now open your eyes. Playing sax on the unpainted plywood floor of the
“Alaska” tent wearing his blue shorts, T-shirt and reflective belt is
Master Sgt. Rosmon Johnson. Blowing trumpet beside him is a similarly
clad Maj. Donald Baker setting the easy mood for Baghdad Jazz Night.
With the right amount of imagination, the duo’s startlingly good jazz
chops easily transform this military tent called Paradise Point into a
trendy New York City hot spot. It is a Sunday staple at the base now,
with Sergeant Johnson headlining a set of contemporary jazz tunes.
Major Baker joins the set to play a few jazz standards before the duo
finish, the set lasting about an hour for between 20 and 25 people.
“We usually go there just to wind down,” said Staff Sgt Isabel Claudio,
deployed here from Kadena Air Base, Japan. “They are always so good.
They’re both pretty good players.”
The music is Sergeant Johnson’s way of talking to people and relaxing.
“It comes from the heart,” Sergeant Johnson said. “I’m not a very good
communicator, so I talk through my saxophone.”
Sergeant Johnson’s set is contemporary jazz. It included flawless
versions of George Benson’s “Masquerade,” Candy Dulfer’s “Sax on the
Beach,” and “Saving All My Love for You” by Whitney Houston.
The first notes came 26 years ago in Baton Rogue, La., when young
Rosmon joined the Glen Oaks High School marching band. He also played
in the school’s concert and jazz bands.
He never aspired to play professionally. Despite his Louisana jazz
roots, a different tune sounded in his mind.
“I’d always wanted to join and have a career in the Air Force,” said
the 22-year veteran. “I love my country.”
He never thought of auditioning for the Air Force band when he joined.
“I wasn’t playing like this when I joined the military,” he said.
Instead, he chose a career as a heating, ventilation and air
conditioning craftsman. He is deployed from Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
Sergeant Johnson said it was not until almost six years into his
service that he felt he could play well. He doesn’t read music, he just
plays it by ear. He goes a long way to emulate people like his jazz
heroes Grover Washington Jr., Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum.
Major Baker’s path was similar. His first introduction to music was
with the euphonium, a sort of tuba. It was not the instrument he wanted
to play.
“I wanted to play trombone, but my arms weren’t long enough to stretch
it out,” he said.
He also wanted to play trumpet, but when he saw his brother playing the
trumpet, “it looked like he was in pain.
“Eventually, my parents took me to a music store,” he said. “The owner
asked me to try the euphonium. I blew one note and he said, ‘Yup.
That’s for you.’ I think he just wanted to sell us the horn.”
The major said Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were all
early jazz influences. As his interest shifted to singing, Frank
Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr., however, currently top his list.
“You pick someone you want to follow, but you develop your own style,”
he said.
In high school, he went on to play baritone horn for an international
band, opening his eyes to military music. By that time, he had also
decided he wanted to fly airplanes. So, he earned an appointment to the
U.S. Air Force Academy, played in the academy jazz band and was soon
faced with a tough decision: play music or fly. He said he loved the
idea of both. Then one day, he knew what to do.
“I was around some of the Air Force band musicians,” the major said.
“They said they loved playing music, but they’d give anything to go
fly. They told me I could always play music, but I may never get the
chance to fly again. It made sense.”
Now 13 years into his career and flying E-3 Sentry airborne warning and
control systems, he has not looked back. Deployed here as the wing
safety officer, he first listened to Sergeant Johnson’s set, and then
asked if he could join in. The two have been playing together at jazz
night for three weeks.
Coincidentally, both Airmen also play piano and said technology has
made it easier than ever to play a set. Sergeant Johnson said he used a
keyboard to play all the instruments on his backing tracks, played from
a mini compact disc player. Major Baker piped his music off a laptop
computer.
Both men said there is something refreshing about playing in front of
people.
“There’s something you get from a live show,” the major said. “I love
the performance buzz. Sometimes I get so caught up in it, I forget
there’s an audience there.”
Sergeant Johnson’s feeling be-bopped alongside the major’s.
“There are a lot of times when I’m not even aware of my surroundings,”
he said.
Neither Airman has aspirations of playing a professional gig in a Soho
nightclub anytime soon. But if you close your eyes inside Paradise
Point on a Sunday night, you’ll swear you’re there.
“We want people to relax,” Sergeant Johnson said, “and hope they enjoy
it.” |
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 Friday, 05 December 2008
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