PACAF jazz band hosts concerts for Okinawan community

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Maeson L. Elleman
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Members of the U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia jazz band held a series of four concerts around Okinawa for the local community, beginning in downtown Naha City Dec. 11.

During the first two-hour concert alone, members of the band sang, danced and played to an audience of more than 450 local Okinawan citizens as a way to return some hospitality to the host nation.

"I think the number one reason we're here in Okinawa is just to give back to the community," said Tech. Sgt. Jason Foster, Pacific Air Forces Band trombone player. "It's a small gift, but it's a token of our appreciation -- how much we honor their trust and their relationship with the Air Force."

The concert, which was sponsored by the bi-lingual, multi-cultural Okinawa Keystone Lion's Club, was held to show appreciation for the local community.

"This is going to be our second coordination which the Okinawa Keystone Lion's Club is sponsoring," said Eduardo Oyadomari, the club's president. "Last year was our first. This time we had enough time to prepare, so I think we were able to draw in a big crowd."

Through this sort of performance, Staff Sgt. Dennis Lambert, piano player for the band, said it brings the community closer.

"I think it's important for us to come down here to bring music and to show a personality to the public, and to make friends down here in this part of the world," Lambert said. "One of the great things about playing this kind of performance here in Japan is we're transcending the language barrier, which is a key important part for military to be here. Getting to play music, we're able to express ourselves in a way that they can understand even though there's a language barrier."

Like Lambert, many in the band have been playing their instruments for quite some time from early childhood to other branches of military service. However, Lambert said the Air Force gives him opportunities he may not have had if he didn't join.

"I started playing piano when I was 5, so that makes it about 25 years that I've been playing consistently," Lambert said. "My main reason for joining the Air Force band was to travel the world and bring music to different places. I've gotten a chance to go to many different places and I feel really lucky for that."
For Foster, the thing he loves most about the band is witnessing the crowd's emotions as he performs with the group.

"It's about seeing the reaction in the audience," Foster said. "It doesn't matter if you're in the Air Force or you're Japanese; when you see that person smile or when they start to clap, you know you've reached them. You guys are sharing a moment at that point. That's my favorite thing; that's why I love my job now; that's why I chose music as my profession."