Air National Guard Band of the Southwest to perform
Honoree served country, won Grammies
* By Alicia Doyle
The Air National Guard Band of the Southwest will perform “A Tribute to Sammy Nestico” on Sunday at Oceanview Pavilion’s Performing Arts Theatre by the Beach in Port Hueneme.
The group is composed of civilian airmen whose jobs include professional musicians, music educators, computer programmers, accountants, engineers and law enforcement officers.
The band has 35 to 40 members, of whom seven new recruits have joined their woodwind, percussion and brass sections, said Sharon Kloeris, executive vice president at Oceanview Pavilion.
“Having so many members allows them to form many different types of musical ensembles,” Kloeris said. “The large groups are the traditional concert band, marching band and jazz ensemble. The smaller groups include a Dixieland band, Latin pop ensemble, a rock band, a brass quintet and a saxophone quintet, as well as a small jazz combo they can tailor for all sorts of events.”
On Sunday, the concert band will perform more than a dozen songs including “America the Beautiful,” “Basie Straight Ahead,” “Brassmen’s Holiday” and “Stardust.” The band also will perform seven original songs, which were composed by Nestico, Kloeris said. The highlight of this concert is the Veterans Day salute to Nestico, a military veteran. “He is a world-renowned composer, arranger and musician, and four-time Grammy award winner,” Kloeris said. “Sammy joined the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., as a staff arranger and subsequently became the leader of the famous Airmen of Note,” Kloeris added.
After a 15-year tenure with the Air Force, Nestico enlisted with the Marine Band in Washington. He served as chief arranger and director of the White House orchestra, which played for judicial and congressional social functions during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
The Air National Guard Band of the Southwest is part of the 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Islands Air National Guard in Port Hueneme.
Members meet two days a month to rehearse and perform, Kloeris said. They also participate in an annual two-week summer tour starting July Fourth in Santa Barbara.” The band’s performances at Oceanview Pavilion began in 2009.
This year’s event also will pay tribute to the men and women who have served in the military, past and present, Kloeris said.