Anita Brown: News

RSS feed

I have been invited by Marine Ssgt Parish (Staff Sergeant) from local Marine Corps Office of Public Affairs to attend the USMC MEOP (Musicians' Enlistment Opportunity Program) weekend during the first week in May. This is an all-expenses paid weekend for educators and other musicians who are considered influential in their community to learn about career opportunities in music, offered by The United States Marine Corps.

It seems I'll have an opportunity to observe the bands at work, meet the top leaders of today's Marine Corps Music Program, tour the National Museum of The Marine Corps (YAYYYY!!), get a tour of their archives (that will likely include some of the works of John Phillip Sousa) and attend an Evening Parade Marine Corps rehearsal and performance at Marine Barracks, 8th & I, Washington, DC.

Sounds like an educational opportunity I would be a fool to miss! Many thanks to Ssgt Parish!

~AB

I couldn't be happier to announce that The United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon has availed themselves to the premiere of my piece of performance art conceived to integrate their performance with my jazz orchestra. Stand: A Symphony for Jazz Orchestra will be premiered with Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra under my baton in Nyack, NY on September 10, 2011, in commemoration of the American experience of our national tragedy of September 11, 2001.

While I await confirmation of paperwork, the Captain in charge of Operations for the precision drill team indicates that it "...shouldn't be a problem Ma'am."

Please visit the calendar and check back for updates! This is a daunting task so please be sure to visit the website where you can help with a tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas. Visit www.standsymphony.com

I am pleased to announce that The Las Vegas Academy Jazz Ensemble has just recorded my big band arrangement of my original tune, "Santa's On His Way" under the direction of Pat Bowen.  Thanks LVA!!  Love you guys!!

My piece, Quagmire, will be performed by the 2010 New Jersey All State Jazz Band under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Kunkel.    The performances will take place in a casino to be announced in Atlantic City, NJ on Thursday, November 4, 2010 and at NJPAC (NJ Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ) on Friday, November 12, 2010.

Dr. Kunkel is the Director of Jazz Studies at Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ and has served as President of the NJ Chapter of IAJE, NJ Music Educators' Association and NJ All-State Jazz Band Coordinator.

I recently completed a survey for NPR Music’s “Hey Ladies: Being A Woman Musician Today”  online database.  My answers "helped to inform a series of radio features airing on NPR throughout the summer."  There is a web presentation of this project where folks can view the responses of hundreds of women musicians who took part in this survey.

 

Visit the blog or links page for links to my answers.

Judi Silvano has asked me to expand the two small ensemble charts I wrote for her over the winter into big band charts. She will be performing them in Israel in early June! We are both looking forward to running them down with Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra in mid to late May in New York. Judi is also considering learning some of my existing vocal charts and we look forward to the possibility of performing together in the future.

I am thrilled to have been asked to write an arrangement for Frank Wess' octet. The arrangement will be for one of his original ballads entitled "Entre Nous" which means "Between Us."

This will be performed by The Frank Wess Octet on their run at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, NYC, January 19-24, 2010, in celebration of his 88th birthday.

Come on down!

Anita is happy to announce that she has been hired to write two arrangements for singer, Judi Silvano, to be performed with Thurman Barker's Jazz Combo at Bard College in December 2009.

Judi and I are very happy to finally have the chance to work together and are looking forward to further collaboration down the road.

Today I received the exciting news that three of my arrangements have been approved for publication by UNC Jazz Press (University of Northern Colorado). They are Jobim's Sabia (a tenor feature), the classic ballad, Don't Explain (featuring either mezzo soprano voice or alto sax) and my father's 24-bar blues in 3/4, Dig It, the title track from his recording with Lee Konitz. This arrangement offers solos for trumpet, tenor and alto.

The charts will be published pending approval by the respective copyright owners.

Somehow, on Sunday, June 28th, an unprecedented four-day creative spurt/writing frenzy began. During some of NY's most beautiful weather, I was at the piano, writing like a maniac for four days straight!

While there are some things I REALLY NEED TO FINISH, this was not related to ANY of them! HA!

It's my belief that one cannot argue with this stuff. When it calls, you have to just listen...and when it SCREAMS at me, well...I can't even take a break to pee sometimes!

NO COMPLAINTS!

I'm reluctant to disclose further details about the work at this time, but suffice it to say that I haven't been this excited about writing since I started orchestrating "The Lighthouse" right before we went into the studio in March 2003.

The germ of the work was inspired by three specific photographs shot with an artful eye and attention to detail and line.

I WILL say that at this time it appears it may become something formidable in length and structure, but I haven't quite had that conversation with it yet.

Yee ha!
:-)

Some of you have been asking if I have been writing and the answer is YES!

There are a number of things on the slate...in the works.

A brand new tune has just presented itself in a genre yet to be determined. Could be jazz orchestra, could be...something different...who knows? It hasn't told me yet. But it has lyrics this time...(yes...once in a while they come out with lyrics) and it's full of unexpected harmonic twists & turns that continue to make me chuckle on playback. It seems to be a reflection of an encounter which, in fact, presented a number of surprising twists and turns. Funny how it all comes out to paper if you allow it to. I'm looking forward to conferring with Lee Finkelstein on this one, and perhaps others to come!

There is also a chart in the works which is based on an old standard tune (a rather obscure one) which incorporates a line my father wrote, and hopefully will develop according to original sketches to include an additional such line.

Beyond that there is an original which beckons to be completed along with some formidable sketches for other new works.

COMMISSION ME!!! I HAVE TONS OF SKETCHES!!!!!!!

:-)

I have finally posted the candid shots from my recording sessions at Clinton Studios on facebook. Stop by to check out the cats!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=628412279&ref=name#/profile.php?id=628412279&v=photos&viewas=628412279

Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra recently became a Charter Partner of JEN, a.k.a., Jazz Education Network. This organization might be considered the phoenix rising out of the ashes of the bankrupt IAJE.

Look for the ABJO logo on the Charter Partners section of the JEN Partners page!

I hope you will consider joining this organization. The website has a social networking feature and I am certain it will offer jazz artists, educators and students a wonderful reincarnation of what had become a staple of the jazz circuit.

Mary Jo Papich is the President, who was the President-Elect of IAJE as it became defunkt. She is looking for your ideas and has already done a great job of putting a formidable team together.

Please check them out at www.jazzednet.org.

It seems one of my former students has gotten the guitar chair in the Saturday Night Live Band! You'll see him on camera every Saturday night on NBC at 11:30, sitting behind Lennie Pickett. He is Jared Scharff and studied functional piano and reading music with me as a local high school student.

Now he's in one of the finest bands in New York with Earl Gardner, Steve Turre, Shawn Pelton and other great players.

Congratulations to Jared!

Anita is mentioned among "Jazz Luminaries" in an article on AllAboutJazz.com about The Corey Cook Ensemble. Mr. Cook recently purchased "Wake Up!" for his book of original works.

My friend of 25 years and ABJO's Lead Alto Player was married to Jackie Weiss on June 29, 2008 at Crabtree's Kittle House in Chappaqua, NY in a quaint ceremony among close friends and family. In attendance were a number of NY musician friends and their spouses in addition to long-time friend and renowned saxophonist, Jeff Coffin, with whom Dave and I attended UNH in the 1980's. Good luck Dave & Jackie!

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (formerly known as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra) gave a Vanguard Premiere of Anita's piece, "Remembrance," featuring Dick Oatts on also sax. Although Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra premiered this work as its opening number at the final New York IAJE Conference in 2007, Anita recently dedicated this work to the memory of her dear friend Dennis Irwin, long-time bassist with the VJO. He was instrumental in assisting her thought process by discussing certain concepts with her during late night hangs at The Village Vanguard following the VJO's Monday night sets.

Dennis was in attendance at Anita's IAJE performance. In a subsequent discussion Anita pointed out that "Remembrance" was the piece they had had several discussions about, to which Dennis replied, "I'm hip, I'm hip! Beautiful! And the sound was perfect. Everything was perfectly balanced. I could hear every voice perfectly!"

With Dennis' passing on March 10, 2008, Anita dedicated this piece to Dennis 'Ski' Irwin. Tonight's Vanguard Premiere was the first time it was presented as such.

"Tonight Dennis was with us as I conducted the band for the first time in his physical absence." --AB

Nnenna Freelon performed Anita's big band arrangement of the Billie Holiday tune, "Don't Explain," for The Jazz Foundation's Gala fundraiser. They will also record the concert for a forthcoming CD. Their 2007 fundraiser concert's CD was nominated for a Grammy!

See pictures in the Photo Gallery of this site and more via the LINKS page.

The top jazz ensemble from Las Vegas Academy, under the direction of Patrick Bowen, recorded a CD at the new state of the art recording facility at Community College of Southern Nevada (also in Las Vegas) on December 14 & 15, 2007. The large ensemble selections included three of my original works: "Quagmire," (never before recorded) "Alexander's Lullaby Waltz," and "Add Venom, Shake Well."

Check back for details as they develop. --AB

Tonight is the 30th class reunion of Andover High School, Class of 1977! Sorry I can't make it. I'm at home, trying to make some headway on a new piece of music which needs to be completed relatively soon.

As you may have read elsewhere on this site, I produced and released my debut CD called "27 EAST" in 2003. I had hoped to send someone a little blurb to say "thanks" to so many class members, but alas, I wasn't able to complete that communication. SO...I would like to thank the following members of our graduating class for contributing financially to this project. Their names also appear in the liner notes of the CD:

Russell Bedell, Philip A. Nardone, Jr., Gail Wilcox Catalano, Glenn Ippolito, Ken & Grace Sawaya, Vivian Petty Hrabal ('75) and Norma DeFusco King.

Your contributions, along with those of the other names listed, assisted in raising 5% of the expenses, which was a HUGE help! Thanks again!

I hope you will visit, browse & sign the Guest Book. You will see some entries from additional class members as well.

Hope you all have a great time tonight. I wish I could be there!

I can always be reached via the contact page on this site. Please don't be a stranger!

Hugs to all
--Anita

Tenor saxophonist Ted Brown recorded a new CD called "Shades of Brown" for SteepleChase Records with his long-time comrade, Steve LaMattina on guitar and my long-time friend and outstanding bass player, Dennis Irwin.

It is has been downloadable on iTunes since September 2007: click on "Links" on this web site. Hard copies are also now available just in time for the holidays!

For those of you who don't know, Ted Brown is my father, who met my mother, Phyllis Terrazzano Brown while both were studying with Lennie Tristano in the early 1950's. There they enjoyed a musical and social circle including contemporaries such as Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz, Sal Mosca, Sheila Jordan, Ronnie Ball, Peter Ind, Ben Tucker, Jeff Morton, Willie Dennis and more.

Mom and Dad turn(ed) 80 this year, as did Lee Konitz. Sheila just turned 79 with a party/gig at The Iridium in NYC this past week.

The New Jersey City University (NJCU) Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Ed Joffe will be recording it's first CD this week at Bennett Studios in Englewood, NJ. This recording will include the original works of faculty members. Joffe has selected "Wake Up!" to represent my writing. I recently had the opportunity to rehearse this fine ensemble with four young women singing the SATB vocal parts.

Proceeds from this recording will benefit displaced New Orleans musicians.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Formerly a student of mine as an eight, nine and ten year old, Krista is now a professional artist. As a graduate student at Chicago's Columbia College, she continues to study fine art through photography.

As a result of her participation in an art show entitled "Involving Violence" in the "Butcher Shop" (a.k.a., yesteryear's meat packing district) of Chicago, her first review compares her to Andy Warhol in an article written by Jason Foumberg at http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/6942.html:

"Several of the artists in "Involving Violence" remake and reconsider iconic media images of aggression and murder, from brutal lynching scenes to Eddie Adams’ blunt photograph of a Vietnamese prisoner shot in the head point blank. The lynching scenes from newspaper sources are rehashed courtesy of Krista Wortendyke. Her way of re-presenting violent imagery is to block out the tortured and bloodied victim with a pastel rectangle or stripe. This introduces a decorative element to the image, which is off-putting because it interrupts our expectations of the image ingrained in our memory. Wortendyke then traces a slight and careful outline of the victim’s twisted body. These lines serve to just barely remind us of the body hidden underneath, entombed in the image forever, and shielded from the violence that is re-enacted each time the picture is viewed or remembered. Wortendyke seems to be in conversation with Warhol’s legendary appropriations of violence; both make use of strong design elements in contrast to bleak scenes of murder, and where Warhol sought dissociation through repetition, Wortendyke’s distancing effects stoke our fascination with mourning."

Congratulations Krista!!

I am so excited for my long-time friend and comrade, and owner of the "Trombone 2" chair in my band, Pete McGuinness for putting together a stellar band and recording a tremendous CD filled with beautiful writing. Pete is a masterful arranger and has his own voice (both literally and figuratively). ABJO congratulates Pete on a triumphant CD Release Party at New York's Jazz Gallery. Bravo! --AB
www.petemcguinness.com