Dear Howard:

I am glad you asked about FROM MY WINDOW. I am pleased with it and proud of the result. There are of course, things I wish could have gone differently. Next time right? In that regard, I really do want the recording to speak for itself, but there are some things it will not tell you which you may be interested in hearing about . . . .

A BIT OF HISTORY

I had financial help at the onset of the project through a gentleman named Aly Eiam. He was also to be my manager, but Aly died of a heartattack at age 40, in March 1994. Since then, I have had to rely solely on my own resources. People always ask if my Dad helped. He never discouraged me of course, and 9 of the 11 songs are his works. But I did this -with God’s help- on my own.

LOOKING BACK

Sometimes I can hardly believe I produced this album. But I really did. When working in the studio (which began 11/92), at times I was angry at those who were not there to help me, whom I felt should have been. So many times there was just my engineer Blaise Barton and me. While laying my vocals- I found myself needing to be on both sides of the glass at one time; and when it came time to make all the decisions that must be made in the studio at mix time. I would say to myself ‘there’s no way I am supposed to have to do this alone. I can’t be the best person for the job when I’ve never done this before.’ It is not that I didn’t plan things out, but simply that "Murphy’s Law" was the only someone who was on the scene- all the time. And it took soooo looong to get FROM MY WINDOW finished and packaged. The hard work paid off. In spite of it all, I am proud of the music.

WHAT I MEANT TO DO

Aly insisted on my recording a jazz album. Well, Sexy Silhouette (cut #6) is my most obvious attempt to make a jazz album that can crossover into other markets. I do not consider myself a "jazz singer." I love jazz and I am most thankful for the jazz influence in my upbringing. I have great respect for the fact that blues and jazz are at the foundation of contemporary music. I am an entertainer. I am a vocalist. Truthfully, I do not have to be limited to performing only one style of music. The "industry" requires the labels and categories. I find that limiting.

What is most important to me is to popularize the works of my father. That has always been a goal of mine-to shed more light on the gems that I consider to be my family treasure. My brother Oscar III, wrote 2 of the cuts: Feather and I co-wrote with him (Only For The) Passion. I too am starting to write songs. One thing that I will always be doing is making at least a few of these gems HITS in the commercial sense of the term. They are already hits with live audiences.

Mag/Pie Records is currently a one woman operation and thus can get just so much done at one time. MPR is young and FROM MY WINDOW is my first child. It’s all up to me to get it out. In ways, I want it that way-for just a little bit longer. It’s the difference between getting $15 per CD and getting .30c to .95c upon signing a "deal." Between having to do all the legwork myself and having "the music industry" work the album -should they decide to.

QUOTES: Re "From My Window"

"Brown elegantly walks the line between various musical idioms"

• - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

"Maggie emerges as one of the most significant artists of the current generation . . . already a phenomenal artist who has loads of individual style"

- - Earl Calloway, Chicago Defender

"One you’ve got to get. . . A dynamite package of soul-rendering, passionate music in a jazz format that successfully segues to R&B, blues and funk.

- - David Schultz, Ndigo Newspaper

Additional Recordings Maggie is on:

Artist CD Title Label

Abbey Lincoln WHOLY EARTH Verve/Polygram

Urban Knights URBAN KNIGHTS II GRP

The Funky Wordsmyths SPOKEN ANTHOLOGEEZ Black Yang Records