Striking Up the Military Band

The U.S. Air Force may not be every musician’s idea of a good, steady gig. But it works for Senior Airman Kim Rodriguez, a French-horn player in 15th Air Force Band of the Golden West out of March Air Force Base.

Rodriguez will be playing with the Five Star Brass, one of the band’s smaller ensembles, in a series of free concerts around the area, starting this weekend. The group will be joined by Desert Winds, another band ensemble.

Rodriguez, 37, said she enlisted three years ago specifically to join the 45-member band.

“It was the opportunity to play (music),” she said. “I wanted the chance to not work a 40-hour week and then play.”

She said musicians are recruited specifically for the band and playing music “is our primary duty. But we have to do everything to make it work. The only thing we don’t do, and some (Air Force) bands do, is drive the bus.”

Rodriguez is the band’s publicist.

The band members can perform as a marching band, a concert band or the brass and wind quintets. There’s even a pop/rock group, called Spectrum, attached to the unit which, in its various configurations, does about 300 shows a year.

The series of concerts--featuring works by Bach, Sousa, Cohan, Gershwin and Joplin--begins Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Griffith Park. The schedule continues Sunday at the nearby Los Angeles Zoo, with shows at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

On Monday, the ensemble will perform at 2 p.m. at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. On Tuesday, the group will play at 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. A noon concert is scheduled at the L.A. Mall at Temple and Main streets. On Feb. 18, the group will give another noon concert in the Glendale Community College auditorium.

Although the concerts are free, there are admission fees to enter the Autry Museum ($6 adults, $4.50 senior citizens and students, and $2.50 children ages 2-12) and the zoo ($7 adults, $5 senior citizens, and $3 children ages 2-12).