News and Dates

We play grand piano in the middle of a room --
It’s a black rose blooming in the dark;
Add steel guitar, and harmonies too,
Before the night is ended.

                        (verse III, _Out Loud_)

 

January 18, 2010 ~ Happy New Year to everyone!!!

 

September 28, 2009

Last night, with the help of my neighbor, jazz singer superb, Jessica Vautor, I recorded initial sounds on Garage Band, the Apple recording program that could help replicate the demo-making freedom I first experienced in making a 13-song CD at home five years ago.  "The Chocolate Sisters" harmonized together :-> , and I saw how easy this process could be, as another friend, John Vanderlip, has been trying to tell me.  I've written a song I really would like to try placing somewhere, and I have wanted to experiment with harmonies and instrumentation possibilities on my own time.  VOILA!  A way has presented itself!  It's so exciting to see potential for growth!

     I'm planning to buy the equipment I need and start recording.  I have a few ideas for marketing when I produce an end result I like.  I have the space here to do it, and I have the will to try.  Meantime, I sing, I write, I teach.  Passionate involvements.  Much to be thankful for.  Joy to us all in difficult times!  XOXO

January, 2009 ~ Many Changes... have marked the past year, much in their nature incapsulated in how the photo below came to me. It's from an old friend not seen in 24 years, one I'd tried unsuccessfully to locate via the web several years back; last fall on October 13th this note appeared in my E-mail inbox:

Hi Jeanine --

Ever been to London at LAMDA doing something with Shakespeare in the eigthies? Maybe a total different Jeanine??

Anyhow, greetings from Holland

Froukje/Frankie

Joyous and surprising, much in the last year and a half still takes my breath away (not the least of which is the election of our new US president!). Seeking, we often do find, and not quite the way we planned. Wishing you all many bridges, the love of friends, and much happiness in this new year!

Froukje & Jos Van Houten's Country house -- in the Frisian village Wergea near Leeuwarden.

Netherlands, Christmas 2008

Back from Ireland - Summer, 2007:     The trip July 5 - 15 with Angel City Chorale was inspiring, the scenery of southern Ireland spectacular, and the concerts -- including one at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin -- well received.  

As much fun as singing in a group were nights playing, at invitation, in a couple of the hotel piano bars where we stayed.  I had no idea so many in the choir were capable of performing original material at a piano!  We learned a lot about each other and had a" brilliant" time doing it!!!

A photo site established by one of the choir, Brian Wold, shows photos taken by myself and others.  Here's a link from which you can navigate from my photos to others on the site:   http://acc.brianwold.com/v/Jeanine/   Enjoy!!!

 

Music Notes - Summer, 2006:  This spring again, as in '04, I provided music for LA Pierce College's Faculty end-of-year dinner, and again I had a great time doing it.  Where the first go featured back-up from a wonderful trio -- Vic Buxton on key-bass, Rick Kellis on sax, and Bill Severance on drums -- me singing a jazz standards medley I arranged per request, this spring Vic and I performed doing mostly soft rock plus a song I wrote for the occasion, "Friends' Farewell," dedicated to a number of long-time, much-loved retiring professors.

The weekend before I sang with Los Angeles'Angel City Chorale (AngelCityChorale.com) in two shows dedicated to the music of New Orleans, raising funds for the New Orleans Children's Chorus (NewOrleansChildrensChorus.com). I traded solo lines on R&B song "Yes We Can" with bass singers Len Chesler and Michael Dains and got to open Sunday's concert acapella doing the same with trumpeter Paul Litteral on "House of the Rising Sun."  (Paul has accompanied the Rolling Stones, Naomi Judd, Hall & Oates, Graham Parker, Tom Waits, and Delbert McClinton, and his playing was... inspirational!) 

Spring of '05 had started with my adding instrumentation to one of the CD tracks mastered in '04 -- friend Domenic Genova recorded an acoustic bass track for "When You Get to Heaven" with perfection.  Missing live performing with others, though, I shifted focus (Aries sun description!)before adding more instruments.  Perhaps I'll get back to doing this sweetening later, at least to a few tracks, but time will tell.  Meantime, I'm having fun making live music ensemble.

Christmas '05, I sang with a friend's wonderful harp trio and with the choir, which I'd joined in August.  Director Sue Fink is demanding, and there's a lot of sight reading (!) but that's good for the brain.  I'm rejoining the group for winter and spring seasons as well as for ten days in Ireland next summer! There's wonderful inspiration coming off these efforts now, and the company feels quite grand.

 

:->  NPR, Colorado, Summer, 2004:  Cortez, Colorado National Public Radio host Sonja Horoshko, whom I met in Rowe, New Mexico the summer of '98, has been playing my CDs on the air and says interested locals have been asking about my music.  That response feels really wonderful!

Summer Gigs:    I'll be playing the local Coffee Machine on August 28, Saturday, 10-12 PM with my friend Shaw Hayes.  After that I'll be participating in a fund-raiser for a documentary film maker studying media and US involvement in Iraq.  Watch here for specifics.

   My new CD is available for $15 (add $2 extra for postage). Just E-mail me at the address below, and I’ll get one to you, or buy one next time you come to hear me play!    I recorded and mixed -- with indispensable aid from friend Shaw Hayes -- these thirteen songs, eleven never before recorded, here at home, in late summer and fall of '03. Still owing me his end of a recording session barter, Shaw instead brought his digital eight-track recorder to my house (!) and showed me what to do, making it easy to understand.  :-o  That was July 23. Unsure when he'd need his machine back, I immersed myself and finished eight of nine piano songs in a week.  (Shaw: "Why are you working so fast?!")  :-) Taking his kind cue, I took some needed time with my four guitar (second instrument) songs and the last piano song, re-doing some vocal tracks and adding some back-up tracks as well. (One guitar song, "Movin'," wanting a full band, I decided ultimately to shelve for another time.)  I feel happy with these recordings and hope that many of you will give a listen to the end product. Playing and recording my own accompaniment this time around has been a terrrific experience, and this project has been FUN as well as rewarding.     :->

   Vocal Lessons! In response to some recent quaries, I have and do on occasion coach budding singers. Having some formal training and having made some extensive left-brain notes of my own through the years, I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned about making musical noise. If anyone’s interested out there, contact me, and I’ll be glad to get back to you with more details.

                                       E-mail contact:   Jeanine@jeaninebrown.com

 

   

     GIG NOTE ARCHIVE: 

 Saturday, April 24, '04. The Coffee Machine with Garret Swayne and James Hurley
       Both Garret and James are gifted singer-songwriter-guitarists, and the three of us will be rotating sets. For a cover charge of $3 at the door, you can spend the evening, with no food or drink minimums. Please come say hello and give a listen! I'll have CDs for sale too, my dozen-song summer '03 acoustic solo collection, WHEN YOU GET TO HEAVEN, mastered at last! Amen :-> The Coffee Machine 7238 Reseda Blvd. (at Sherman Way)

The music continues at new  neighborhood spot, The Coffee Machine, 2004. I hope you'll come by on Saturday, March 13, 8:30-11 and join me and guitarist-friend Shaw Hayes for original and cover music. We'll be sharing the night with Megwynn White, a guest performance poet! Should be a fun time! 

CDs of my summer 2003 recordings should be mastered and available for purchase on this date, with solo performances of ten-eleven newly recorded songs and two more from my first CD, twelve-thirteen songs in all. :-o              

   

 On Saturdays September17, October 25 & December 27, 2003 and January 17, 2004 guitarist Shaw Hayes and I performed at The Coffee Machine here in the Valley at 7238 Reseda Boulevard, just north of Sherman Way.  This is a terrific new venue, large and comfortable, with chess boards,backgammon tables,and great coffee drinks and treats, with brother/sister owners, Eduardo and Espy, serving customers personally.  If you haven't yet, check it out! 

     

On Saturday, October 4, 2003, I played the 8:00 slot at the UnUrban Cafe in WLA/Santa Monica. I'd been wanting to play the UnUrban since listening one Sunday to the house jazz trio there. That moment, rimmed by LA summer music memories, inspired a song, "Paper Green,"  and I played it for the first time appropriately on this night.  Friend Rick Kellis, a wonderful sax player, sat in with me, elevating the energy and making the evening magical!  Friends visiting from Switzerland and Brazil with others from Santa Monica, West LA, Malibu and my home area, the San Fernando Valley, came together and created a heaven-sent room to play to.  Great night!  Here's a photo/Calendar link:                                                                                      http://casenet.com/coffeehouse/unurbancalendar.html    

 

 

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Last revised: September, 2009