The

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

Band is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

in Yokosuka, Japan. It is composed of professional navy musicians and operates under the direct control and supervision of Fleet Band Activities, the official navy music program. It serves aboard the Seventh Fleet flagship, the USS ''Blue Ridge''. It was created upon the renaming of the Southwest Pacific Force on 7 March 1943. The Seventh Fleet Band is today composed of six professional ensembles, all of which have performed for millions of people throughout the

Western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Countries it has performed in include

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Singapore,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, as well as many other cities and countries of the Far East. The band has used the traditional costumes of these countries in its routines. One of its more notable members was Ralph M. Gambone, who later served as officer in charge of the

United States Navy Band The United States Navy Band, based at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., has served as the official musical organization of the U.S. Navy since 1925. The U.S. Navy Band serves the ceremonial needs at the seat of government, performin ...

from 1998 to 2007.

Composition

The band leadership consists of the fleet bandmaster and the senior enlisted leader. The band has the following ensembles: *Ceremonial Marching Band *Pacific Ambassadors *Far East Edition *Orient Express *Shiokaze Chamber Ensemble *Shonan Brass Quintet

Far East Edition

It was established in 1974 and is a popular music ensemble known for its transforming itself from a brass band to a rock band to a jazz combo. It can be heard playing traditional New Orleans-style jazz, classic rock, and local regional favorites. It has been featured at major events throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific region and have entertained hundreds of thousands of people over the years.

Orient Express

The Orient Express is a nine-member group of professional rock musicians performing live examples of English-language rock, including covers of songs ranging from

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

, to

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

. Orient Express also performs as a

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

ensemble, as well as a full-range

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

Band. Leadership of this group is coordinated on a talent and personnel level.

Pacific Ambassadors

The Pacific Ambassadors is a 20-piece show band operating in a variety of musical styles, ranging from traditional to contemporary Jazz, Big Band, Latin, and other popular music genres of today. It has been featured as a main attraction at major international cultural events throughout Australia and the Far East, covering more mileage squared than any other navy band operating today.

Ceremonial Marching Band

Marching band performs for official military and civic ceremonies, as well as providing official representation of the Commander, Seventh Fleet during musical performance at public concerts throughout the Western Pacific & Asian areas. In 2012, the band began to attend the "International Military Tattoo" in

to replace the United States 8th Army Band.

Gallery

File:US Navy 060227-N-1194D-009 Seventh Fleet band member Musician 1st Class Frank Newton demonstrates how his saxophone keys operate to Aurora Sribuapun, headmaster of the Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind.jpg, Members of the Seventh Fleet band engaging in

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

at the Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind. File:US Navy 050611-N-4104L-003 Seventh Fleet Band Orient Express performing at Singapore's Sentosa Island Musical Fountain - 20050611.jpg, The band performing for visitors on the platform of the

Sentosa Musical Fountain Sentosa Musical Fountain, also known as the Magical Fountain of Sentosa, or as the Musical Fountain by locals, was a former musical fountain water feature and entertainment venue made by Waltzing Waters on Sentosa Island in Singapore. It was loc ...

. File:U.S. Sailors assigned to the U.S. 7th Fleet Band contemporary music ensemble Orient Express perform for the audience inside SM City Iloilo at Iloilo, Philippines, March 2, 2012 120302-N-SM668-011.jpg, Image:USNavyBand 7thFleet 20101216.jpg, Members of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet Band perform alongside the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Band.

References

{{United States military bands, state=collapsed Musical groups established in 1943 Bands of the United States Navy 1943 establishments in the United States Military bands located outside their country of origin