Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html Anita Brown: Anita's Old Blog Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:17:52 -0700 http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#35 RSS feed]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#35 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog This Is A Test http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#64 This is a test to see if this old blog is still feeding in to Facebook...


 


If anyone knows how to stop this feed and change it to my current blog (same website) which is interactive, let me know.  I am clueless...


 


~AB

]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#64 Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Testing 1, 2, 3... http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#63 :-)

Back to writing the two charts for Judi Silvano (see website...)
www.anitabrownmusic.com]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#63 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Frank Wess' 88th Birthday Celebration Is Upon Us! http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#61
Frequently, specifications for arrangements for hire are pretty open, and offer the arranger carte blanche to handle the task as he/she is so inclined. Nnenna Freelon asked me to make her sound "young and solvent" with my arrangement of "Don't Explain" for her (LOL-that means it's pretty open). Judi Silvano was simply interested in certain grooves and tempos in the interest of maintaining balance for her book. Frank, however, was pretty specific about what he wanted.

For "Entre Nous" (translation, Between Us) he didn't want much and wanted me to maintain his chord changes as well as the form of a big band arrangement he'd written on the same tune, which features him on flute. Since it's hard for him to see, he didn't want to having to read anything new. He wanted to simply be able to play without reference to a part.

On "If You Can't Call, Don't Come And If You Can't Come, Don't Call" he was even more specific: "Hardly anything at all. No intro. Nothin' until the bridge on the second time through...not much...maybe a counterline and a cadenza." That's pretty specific!

What Frank doesn't know, and I'm not afraid to post it here, as I am quite certain he will not see this blog entry, is that I wrote a third arrangement as a birthday gift, which Evan Barker copied as part of the gift. The birthday arrangement is a harmonization for Frank's five horns of Charlie Parker's "Au Privave." I wrote an eight measure Intro and used it again as a Coda.

While there are a few options for various horns within Frank's nonet, I opted for one of my favorite instrumentations of two trumpets (although flugelhorns on the ballads), tenor, trombone and baritone sax, in that order from the top, down: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Personnel for The Frank Wess Nonet is as follows for the week run at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola:

Frank Wess, solo tenor saxophone;Frank Greene, lead trumpet; Terell Stafford, jazz trumpet; Ted Nash, alto & tenor saxophones; Luis Bonilla, trombone; Scott Robinson, baritone saxophone and surely a plethora or other instruments; Michael Weiss, piano (Jan 19-21); Tomoko Ohno, piano (Jan 22-24); Peter Washington, bass (Jan 19-21); Noriko Ueda, bass (Jan 22-24); Winard Harper, drums.

Being that this is Frank's 88th Birthday Celebration, he has invited a number of the jazz scene's finest pianists to join in with guest appearances on the piano ("The 88's") Be sure to make reservations because this is going to be packed and truly amazing!

Guest pianists will appear as follows:

Mulgrew Miller, piano (Jan 19, Tuesday)
Renee Rosnes, piano (Jan 20, Wednesday)
Bill Charlap, piano (Jan 21, Thursday)
Billy Taylor, piano (Jan 22, Friday)
Mike LeDonne, piano(Jan 23, Saturday)
Hank Jones, piano (Jan 24, Sunday)

Here's the rest of the info:
Frank Wess 88th Birthday Celebration with The Frank Wess Nonet
Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
Frederick P. Rose Hall
Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Time Warner Building
Broadway at 60th Street
5th Floor

7:30pm & 9:30pm
Cover: $30-35
Students: $15 select sets w/valid student ID
http://jalc.org/dccc/details_fall09_final.asp

Reservations:
Call: 212-258-9595 or 9795

Personally I am very excited about all this for it is a great honor to have written these arrangements for the Jazz Royalty that is Frank Wess. This week has the potential to be among the greatest exposure of my career. :-) Rehearsals are tomorrow and Monday afternoons. While it is always a little nerve-wracking to hear the new work come off the page into the air, I am calmed by the fact that all the horn players are long-time friends and among the most fun people I know.

I hope you will consider coming down for one of these nights. I intend to be present for many, if not all of the nights of Frank's 88th Birthday Celebration at Dizzy's. A couple of nights it's possible I won't be able to make it until the second set. We'll see!

Funny...in the course of writing this blog entry Frank Wess called and after that...Barry Manilow came on TV and started singing Mandy.

LOL It seems quite a humorous differential in the spectrum of musical personalities.

On another note, I see my web hosting company is now offering a proper interactive blog. Unfortunately for me I have no idea how to make the switch over without losing the existing entries but perhaps it will be more painless than it seems if I write them an e-mail. Hostbaby is pretty good about taking care of their clients.

Stand by for more!

Hope to see you at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola this week!

--AB]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#61 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog A Few Truly Great Honours http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#59
First, I have to say that after years of friendship and mutual admiration for each others' work, I was absolutely thrilled to get a call from internationally renowned vocalist, Judi Silvano, to write two arrangements for her "book" (as we call it). Specifically, these arrangements were to be premiered by members of the Bard College Jazz Department on a presentation of "The American Songbook," although Judi will maintain them for future use as well.

She has such a great spirit and it was such fun to connect and discuss tunes and her ideas for how she wanted to present them.

We decided on Gershwin's "Embraceable You" as a bossa nova and Ellington's "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart" as a shuffle!

Evan Barker copied the parts in a hurry for a rehearsal that Judi and I had put on the calendar that same day. Being that I'm overly neurotic about booking plenty of rehearsal time, I suggested to Judi that we book more time than necessary on a couple of different dates, so as to secure the rehearsal space. In New York City, rehearsal space is sometimes not easy to come by, particularly the preferred venue(s).

I'm glad I have learned, over the years, to go with that gut instinct. Lo and behold, Judi had to remain in Europe after her gig in Paris. Had she been home on time, we could have rehearsed just a couple days following her return. But alas, her husband, the legendary tenor saxophonist whom we all love, Joe Lovano, took a fall. He's fine now and resting, but as a result, we ended up quite happy that the alternate rehearsal date was already booked!

We rehearsed my two charts and one other by Janice Friedman under my baton at The Musicians' Union in midtown. We had Alex Norris on trumpet, Marc Phaneuf on alto, Bill Saxton on tenor, Bruce Eidem on trombone, Jim Ridl on piano, Mike McGuirk on bass and Scott "Newmie" Neumann on drums and WE HAD FUN!!

I gave my new H4 Zoom a spin and promptly recorded AND lost the file for "Embraceable You" but got the others. LOL Fortunately Judi still brought her old standby cassette recorder!

Those arrangements will be premiered tomorrow night, Saturday December 5th at 7:00pm at Bard College, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY by members of the Jazz Department under the direction of Mr. Thurman Barker. (You know...the school Donald Fagen & Walter Becker--Steely Dan guys--went to.)

It's at least two hours from my place and we have a forecast for a "WINTRY MIX" so I'm thrilled about the drive (not) but wouldn't miss it for the world.

With the completion of that rehearsal (after a really fun hang in midtown) my attention turned to the UNC Jazz Press paperwork which I need to take care of in order to submit the three arrangements they approved for its catalogue. I'm very excited to have been approved for their publishing my arrangements of Jobim's "Sabia'," Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain" and Dad's (Ted Brown) "Dig It" for 16- sometimes 17-piece jazz orchestra, a.k.a., big band.

Meanwhile...a few days ago I returned home to find a message on my answering machine from FRANK WESS! I LOVE Frank Wess both as a player and as a friend and can't even BELIEVE that he showed up to my 50th birthday party in midtown this past June. Of course, one does NOT wait to return calls to Jazz Royalty! So, I called him back right away.

I hear Frank say, "Oh HI! I was just thinkin' about you..." I said, "Well I was thinking about you too! I just got your message!"
"Oh yea? So how's everything with you?"
I replied, "Good...good..."

There were one or two more exchanges before I realized that I was talking to his OUT GOING MESSAGE!!!!!!! LOL!!!!

The OGM went on for a while and got progressively more hysterically funny; no surprise to those of us who know Frank! Finally, by the time the beep sounded I was in hysterics, cracking up out loud and trying to leave a message, when he picked up the phone.

He cut right to the chase, and I was once again, incredibly honoured with his request for me to write an arrangement of one of his ballads, entitled "Entre Nous" (Between Us), for his octet to play on his hit at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, NYC, in celebration of his 88th birthday, January 19th-24th!! I hope you'll try to come down for that! I'll write more about that later.

Last but not least, I attended "Funksgiving 24" on the evening of Black Friday in Huntington, NY at the Elks Lodge where The Funk Filharmonik played it's 24th consecutive Thanksgiving Show! Suffice it to say I REALLY NEEDED TO DANCE!!!!!! And there is no other drummer I'd rather dance to than Lee Finkelstein playing that funky stuff they do!

If you don't know this band, they are an incredibly outstanding band that started out as a Tower of Power cover band 24 years ago in Huntington, NY at a place called Canterbury Ales. They built a following when they had a regular monthly gig at The Brokerage in Merrick, NY (every last Thursday of the month) which I attended religiously for many, many years.

My brother Jeff took me to see them for the first time in May 1990, knowing how much I love Tower of Power. At that time, his friend, and my new acquaintance, Tony Kadleck, was subbing for Ron Fox, the regular lead trumpet player.

That band knocked my socks off that night. By the time they finished the musicians' introductions I realized I had gone to undergrad school at SUNY Old Westbury with Lee and Steve Finkelstein, drums & percussion respectively. All the members of the band and I became fast friends.

Soon after that I began transcribing Tower of Power charts for them for fun, and actually, after only having written for my school ensembles where I taught, cut my teeth writing in the professional forum for them.

They still do two of those arrangements regularly: "A Little Knowledge (Is A Dangerous Thing)" and "Souled Out." I was thrilled to hear them sound SO great on them last Friday night!!!! :-)

Not only is the band comprised of outstanding musicians, but many are Tower of Power alums* or subs. Personnel includes Ron Fox and Vinnie Cinquemani (trpts), Ozzie Melendez (trbn) [toured w/Mark Anthony], John Scarpulla* (tenor), Norbet Satchel* (bari sax), Greg Schleich (keys), Dave Lavender, (gtr), Jack Knight (bass), Steve Finkelstein (perc), Lee Finkelstein (drums) [The Blues Brothers and "Shifting Tides of Montauk" from ABJO's "27 EAST," track 4], Tom Bowes* and Brent Carter* on vocals. Special guest, another long time friend previously with Maynard Ferguson and currently with Billy Joel, was the silly, albeit incredible Carl Fischer on trumpet.

So proud to know these guys and have my arrangements in their book, for these fine musicians would never consider using them were they not up to par.

And now...back to the daily grind for a bit. Thanks for reading!

Happy Holidays to all!

Don't forget to check out "Santa's On His Way" on the music page of my website!

--AB]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#59 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Anita as Guest Speaker/Composer at City College http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#58
Great fun! What a gorgeous building and campus! I have been around New York for decades and I had never been to this pocket of Manhattan. What a most gorgeous, gothic building! And the architecture in the neighborhood at 145th St. is just breathtaking. New York at its finest, no doubt.]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#58 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Writing for Renowned Jazz Singer, Judi Silvano http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#57
After being friends for years, Judi and I are very happy to finally have the chance to work together and are looking forward to a number of additional collaborations down the road.

Some of you may know Judi's husband, the legendary saxophonist, Joe Lovano. Once again, SO grateful for all those folks we meet...hangin' around The Vanguard on Monday nights for decades. I am so happy to embark upon this exciting collaboration with one of the loveliest of international jazz artists .
:-)

--AB]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#57 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Music for ALL AGES!!! http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#54
With the start of this school year I am embarking on a campaign to offer clinics of varying design for K-12 and college music programs, as well as co-commission opportunities with my new, extended work, 'Slices of the Gradient', for high-level jazz ensembles.

My music for jazz orchestra and a number of lead sheets are available on my website. Some rehearsal clips are of unrecorded works have been posted. A listing of R&B arrangements can also be found on the products page while titles of my children’s songs will be posted soon.

A more detailed outline of available clinics may be found below. Free promotional materials are available at
http://www.anitabrownmusic.com/products.html. Please scroll down to CLINICS — Free PDF.

ATTENTION: Directors of College Jazz Ensembles! I hope you will give a listen to the mp3 file on my 'music' page, of a rehearsal recording of my original tune and arrangement, 'Santa’s On His Way'. This feel-good chart should make for an easy read and features an alto or mezzo soprano voice as well as a trumpet soloist. Other titles featuring the same voice include Now Baby Or Never and Don’t Explain*.
www.anitabrownmusic.com/music.html
*Don’t Explain is prepared to optionally feature alto saxophone.

WANT MORE INFORMATION???? For starters, here are some details for you”¦

COMMISSION CAMPAIGN 2009: 'Slices of the Gradient' is an extended work in three movements, inspired by and named for three specific photographs: 1) Lily Pads; 2) Chac Mol (an underwater Mexican cenote); 3) The Fountain. Formidable sketches are currently underway, focusing on the second movement first. If you, your school or ensemble would like to take part in commissioning this work, please send your interest in reply to this e-mail. Further details are available on my website’s blog. Scroll back to see the August 24th entry.

CLINICS FOR COLLEGE MUSIC PROGRAMS: Each clinic is tailored to your program’s specific needs and can include rehearsing and performing my music and/or the music of Manny Albam (see 'links' page of website'. Lecture/demonstration style clinics discussing creative process and analyses of works and/or conducting are always encouraged, affording students an opportunity for greater insight.

CLINICS & RESIDENCIES for MUSIC, K-12: Whether you’re interested in a one-day clinic or a longer residency, each booking will be tailored to your needs as the music or classroom teacher. Free promotional pdf’s are available on the products page of my website. Clinic titles include,

-What Does A Composer Do? (recommended for grades K-6)
-The Creative Process (grades 3-12)
-Let’s Compose! (grades 3-9)
-The Composer Residency Project (grades 6-12)
-Music Business Project: A Hands-On Introduction to Intellectual Property & Copyright Law (grades 3-12)
-Guest Conductor Clinics: Rehearsing and performing with your school ensemble(s) under my baton.

For bookings & more information please visit www.anitabrownmusic.com]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#54 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Ten Years Ago Today http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#53
By 4:30 am "Captain Jerry" and First Mate, Mike returned to the boat in an agitated state, having lost ALL of their winnings from earlier. Jerry and Mike lifted the floor in the galley and proceeded to check fuel and oil levels. I suddenly discovered that the thought I had about actually going to sleep was just not going to happen. Captain Jerry decided he wanted to leave "Now." It was approaching 5:00am or so before we were ready to navigate out of the harbour and around the jetty, but it was PITCH BLACK! I quickly learned that the only way to do this is for one chump to stand on the bridge with a high powered flash light, in search of the numbered markers leading out of the waterway to the sea. I was that designated chump; the non-mariner. one of three souls on the vessel.

By the time we reached open ocean it must have been the other side of 5:30am, perhaps later. Soon we were well underway and the seas seemed moderately choppy. Suddenly the anchor cover flew open from the boat having pitched so hard, that Captain Jerry had to go out on the bow and secure it, as it was clacking around, rather out of control. It was--to say the least--frightening to observe him trying to execute this task while the boat was pitching (moving up and down, from front to back--as I later learned) madly, and his footing seemed to me precarious at best.

Following that, still in darkness, we all retreated to the relative safety of the bridge. The bench behind the dash housed us all amply, while the bench seat in front of the dash could have seated ten.

We sat with our feet on the dash, watching for waves coming perpendicular to the bow. These were quickly increasing to five foot waves breaking on the hull. Mike would say, "HERE COMES A BIG ONE!!!!!" and we would brace ourselves with our feet on the dash and "post," much in the same way that one would do in riding a horse.

Morning light started to seep into the picture to reveal an overcast sky. Personally I was disappointed, as I was awaiting a brilliant sunrise to capture on film. (Yes, film. Pentax K1000, 35 mm, FILM)

This banter with the sea from the perspective of the bridge of The Angela Z went on for a couple of hours. We were the only vessel in sight. No fishermen, no tankers, no canoes... (yes, I know canoes would never go there).

By now the entire exposed area of the boat, from bow to stern, was wet, as the waves were breaking and spraying everywhere. Were it not for the zip on windshield we would have been soaked too.

Now in this overcast daylight somewhere around 7:30am ( I think) I REALLY needed to use the bathroom. Capt. Jerry told me he would "slow down the boat" for me. Wearing Keds wasn't going to help me much in climbing down that ladder, walking to the opposite side of that stern to get in the cabin if we kept moving at that clip!

Finally in the cabin safely I first noticed a bizarre sight: the double-sided refrigerator had jumped away from the wall and was standing nearly two feet from where it had been earlier.

Not being a mariner, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I thought, "Weird. That's what happens to big appliances on a boat?" I just thought that was par for the course. Who knew?

I dropped my camera on the couch in the "salon" (apparently that's what we're supposed to call the "living room" on a luxury boat the size of a house) and went into "the head" (the bathroom).

As I was coming out I saw Jerry rummaging around in the entertainment wall for something. Thinking it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shoot film in the middle of the ocean (what would I see?) I decided I needed another roll of film, as the one in the camera was spent.

I took the camera into the "state room" (bedroom) forward of mid-ship where my luggage was. Little did I know, by then, Mike had been granted permission to increase the throttle back to the speed we had been traveling at earlier.

After loading the camera I proceeded to drop the roll of used film into my luggage, which was open, on the floor. I stood over the soft suitcase in a tennis stance and dropped the roll of film straight down.

Suddenly--REALLY suddenly--the boat apparently went over a huge wave, climbing up its steep slope with great speed and force. The response to that was the dropping of the vessel into the wave's subsequent trough, even more quickly. With that, I actually remained--like Wile E. Coyote--in the place where I had been, except now, the "deck" (floor) of the boat had dropped from the soles of my feet, leaving me three feet above it.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so of course, the boat had to return, while I had to comply with gravity and descend to meet it. I remember hearing something as loud as a gunshot, which I think was the boat hitting the surface of the water at the wave's trough. Following that, of course I had to meet up with the deck again while it was fast ascending to meet me. At the point of impact I saw-- in my mind's eye--my right shin, from about one-third up from my ankle joint, suddenly move to a 45 degree angle, turning inward toward the left leg. I remained standing.

There was quite a loud "crunch" sound from inside my body to my ears...somehow.

Being a little stubborn, even though I could see in my mind's eye that my right leg was in serious trouble, I decided, "That did NOT just happen. Now I'm going to stand up." With that I touched my right big toe to the floor and promptly screamed BLOODY MURDER!

Thankfully Jerry was still in the salon, as the intercom from the bridge to the cabin was not functioning. Who knew there was an intercom anyway and how would I have gotten to it?

Jerry ran in. I asked him to help me to the floor. He ran up and told Mike to drop anchor. He proceeded to make a May Day call to the Coast Guard, then broke the cutting board in half and splnted me to it.

Always the "take charge" person in a moment of crisis as a teacher, I instructed him to get me two Advils "for the swelling." HA! The SWELLING? I was a little delusional and perhaps going into shock, or so they say.

After about ten minutes lying on the floor I started to feel as though my back wouldn't let me wiggle around at all. Suddenly more pain started creeping in.

About thirty minutes later, a helicopter seemed to be getting increasingly closer until it was quite loud and obviously over head. And then, there were FOUR souls on the boat. "Hi. My name is Dave. What's your name?" "Hi Dave, I'm Anita. (smile) Thanks for 'dropping in'!!" I said as I laughed at the easy pun. "This is Jerry and this is Mike!" (smile)

Dave took about 30 minutes to pack me up on a stretcher (no basket). I informed him that I needed him to pack up my belongings, knowing I would not return to the boat. So, he did.

Now Dave an Jerry picked up the stretcher and I said, "Wait. You guys have to put me like this...(demonstrating angle with my forearm) THEN put me through the doorway and then like this, cuz I can't tolerate it if you put me this way...(further demonstration with forearm)"

Dave and Jerry looked around at the narrow threshold and Dave said, "She's right."

She's right? OF COURSE SHE'S RIGHT!!! She has observed and supervised the moving of FAR too many vertical pianos for her NOT to be right! Same concept.

Soon I was hooked up to the helicopter and flying solo (sola?) vertically to greet a RED helicopter against a now perfectly azure sky with no clouds. I may have been strapped to a stretcher, but I still needed to see the boat from up there and just look down BECAUSE! That's all. Just BECAUSE!

As I started to try to peek over the side I suddenly realized I was taking my life into my hands as the stretcher started to behave erratically. The inner dialogue went something like, "Anita, you're strapped to this stretcher. Your hands are not going to get free without help. If you FALL you're dead. Just relax and lie flat."

Now the red helicopter was getting bigger, and bigger, REALLY fast. JUST when I thought I was going to slam my face on its belly, a guy holding onto a railing leaned out an SLAMMED his foot on the side of it and stopped it from moving. OUUUUUUUUCH!!!!!! Just jarred, but WOA! Now there are TWO guys! The two of them heave my dead weight into the chopper. A few minutes later...here comes Dave! He has ALL my luggage! "Thanks Dave! Where's Jerry?" "He has to drive the boat into Cape May Coast Guard Station."

Then I started to freak out. I'm being flown to a hospital by four men I never met and there won't be a single soul I know in the building OR in the town. More than the leg, that was the scariest prospect for me; being alone in a hospital with a serious problem to deal with. Suddenly I started to realize that I had nobody I knew and trusted along side of me. With that, I started to cry and freak out. My mouth was now bone dry. Just dying for some water. "Why won't the give me any water?" I thought. With that, the pilot turned around to me, lifted the helmet shield from over his face, looked straight at me and smiled. He was THEEEEEE most gorgeous man I have EVER seen in my life!!!!! And I just CHILLED! HA! Just like that! WOA DUDE! He handed me his Gatorade and told me not to take a big sip, but just to put some in my mouth and swish it around. So I said, "OK" (smile) OK...now just check out the helicopter Anita and realize "You're in a US Coast Guard Helicopter!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!!!!"

So, at the time I actually thought...cast...home. No problem. Little did I know that my right tibia (shin bone) AND fibula (smaller outer bone) were shattered--not fractured but shattered--and that vertebra L3 had been compressed/fractured. I had NO idea I would be living in my parent's living room for the next three months, and that I would be VERY lucky if I got home for New Years' Eve 1999, and even luckier that Tony Kadleck would actually take me to the grocery store before his gig that day and wait on me hand and foot until the groceries were put away, and even luckier that I could drive myself to the local pub, use only one crutch and manage to sit at the bar to ring in the New Year. Lucky. And lucky, VERY lucky to not only NOT be paralyzed from the waist down, but to be walking, jogging, wearing heels, wearing skirts, NOT wearing orthodics or funny shoes and both lucky and grateful that the whole thing happened at all. For as I was riding on the bridge out of Montauk Yacht Club, I was writing music, trying to notate the sound of the infrequent nine-foot swells, hissing and cutting on the side of the hull with the lighthouse off to my right in the distance.

Those sketches later became the upside down trombone pyramids leading to the climax of "27 EAST" while other sketches became the bass line of the funk shuffle of "Shifting Tides of Montauk."

The CD itself was financed by the eventual settlement from this episode, following payment of exorbitant hospital bills for my seven-day stay at Atlantic City Medical Center's Trauma Ward.

Arriving at that location was truly congruous with a scene out of ER. I had to laugh. "Surely this is not THAT serious!" I thought. And all the while poor Dave is running along side of my gurney on wheels, shouting (and I mean SHOUTING) my stats and carrying my suitcase.

My wardrobe for the day consisted of brand new Victoria's Secret black capri leggings under Jerry's jeans (it was FREEZING on the boat) and the matching set's black tee shirt under Jerry's very cool, embroidered, button down fishing shirt. Making my appearance in the trauma ward, a man in a white coat with an unfamiliar accent for which he rolls his r's in an exaggerated fashion peered over my face and said loudly, "Meeeeeezzz Brrrrrown. We arrrrre going to cut yourrrrrr clotheszzzz offffff!!"

I replied, "YOU!! WILL!!!! NOT!!!!!!"

I proceeded to instruct the nurse, who was not only smiling at me but surely laughing that someone gave it back to this guy, as to how to assist me in removing the clothing, although I gave her permission to cut Jerry's jeans. No great loss for me! I still own all the other articles of clothing, believe it or not.

A while later my brother arrived on the scene. Some time after that both my parents arrived.

I refused to sign any consent for surgery until they arrived, a decision I know now was not in the best interest of my healing, but it was what I felt I had to do if I was to be put under anesthesia. I refused on the basis of the dangers of surgery without any "next of kin" in the house. See Tony? That's why I showed up for your appendix thing. My fears. That's all.

On September 25th, Mom's birthday (the day after this fiasco, also my cousin Leah's birthday)I went in for surgery early in the morning. They inserted a rod in the "tibia" (shin bone) and four screws; two at the inside of the ankle and two at the inside of the knee area.

Recovery was a challenge, but honestly, the first time I was able to sit up in a wheel chair for any length of time at all without being in excruciating pain was one day when Mom said, "There's a Yankees game on. Do you want to try to watch some of it?" SO I said yes. I got into my chair and propped myself in front of the TV. Clemens was pitching. It was the first time I had REALLY paid attention to a pitcher. I was riveted to his concentration. Riveted to that drive, the will to succeed, the focus, confidence and the fact that he's just too damn handsome helped too. I had no pain for the duration of that game. Mom said nothing til it was over. I hadn't noticed I'd been in the chair for at least three hours. Following that, I kept track of the Yanks' schedule and got into that chair for every game remaining through the World Series, and with no pain. Then I said, "If Jeter can do that (stop in mid-air, change direction, pirhouette and make ridiculous plays) then I can walk by Christmas." And I did. And that's why this Mostly Massachusetts Girl is a true, die-hard Yankees fan. Percocet and codeine are OK, but the Yankees rule!

I will be forever grateful for the daily phone calls during that time from Tony Kadleck and Maria Schneider. Mom and Maria got to know each other quite well over the phone. I will never forget Maria coming to my parents' place with two dozen long-stemmed white & yellow roses, and proceeding to wash my hair for me in the kitchen sink. I am also grateful to all the assistance, visits and calls from Evan Barker (and the subsequent grocery shopping oustings), Tim Horner, Janice Friedman, Glenn Drewes, Joe Mosello and Miles Evans, and of course my parents, to name a few.

It turned out that the best physical therapist in the world was my nephew, Alexander "Woody" Brown, who turns eleven this November 10th. As I began trying to walk "again," he was learning to walk for the first time! He and I would go down to the ground floor of my parent's building where there is a long corridor. We walked it's length and he would say, " 'GAIN!" (again, without the first syllable). So, I had to walk the length AGAIN! And a little faster. And AGAIN...a little faster.

Well, here I am and it's almost 4:00am. That hour when, ten years ago this moment, Jerry & Mike came back from the casino having lost all the money. Why did they want to leave in such a hurry? I always wondered. Alas, it turns out...the money they lost? It was the boat owner's. AHHHHHHH!!! AND...for the fact that we pulled into Trump Marina at 10:30pm on 9/23/99, the Dock Master was already gone for the night, not scheduled to return until 6:00am on 9/24/99. OHHH!!! So if we left before 6:00am...you see...we don't pay the dock fee!!!

In the liner notes of my CD it does, in fact, say "...and thanks to The Atlantic Ocean, my benefactor." Yes, I know what a benefactor is. And it is ultimately The Atlantic Ocean that financed "27 EAST." Pick up your copy today!!!!!!!!!!
:-)]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#53 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog Yankee Stadium, 9/14/09 http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#52
I got Phil Hughes' autograph, talked to him, got pix of him from over his head, spoke to some cops...and I would like to thank Officer Kress from the 44th Precinct for the ball!!! And for taking a picture with me and Officer "Jack" Peters after the game. :-)

I LOVE NEW YORK!!

GO YANKEES!!!!

Special thanks of course to my dear friend, Jami Dauber, trumpet player & manager of The Diva Jazz Orchestra, for the guest status. Thanks to Stanley Kaye for allowing Jami so many guests. And HUGE congratulations to Jami, Tanya Darby, Debbie Weisz and the other women of the Diva brass section, playing SO beautifully on Deb's outstanding arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner.

It's pretty tough to pay attention to the game when you're that close to the players and having THAT MUCH FUN!!!!!!! But surely an experience of a life time.

WAY too much fun for one person in one night. A night I'll never forget.

Thanks Jami!!!! Love you babe!! So...May 7th and September 14th. LOL

--AB]]> http://anitabrownmusic.com/anitas_old_blog.html#52 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Composer, Conductor, Educator - Anita Brown - Anita's Old Blog