She was born in the year #$%$#, in beautiful
Tuscaloosa Alabama, USA (where Groucho Marx liked to hunt elephants....old joke.)
She toddled her little tow-head throughout the South, with Mom, Dad, Paul (younger
brother) and Shirley (older sister.)
Charlotte eventually landed in
the great state of Illinois, for those golden years we call "high school." Lovely
Rich East High School, home of the Rich East Rockets. Yes, the space race was
on everyone's mind, and Rich East was no exception. Char was just an easy going,
groovy chick. Tall and quiet, but really a swinging dancer! Then the day arrived
that would change all others. The Music Man (no, not Robert Preston) came-a-calling
at Rich East. Sure Charlotte wanted to play the accordion in the band ("..maybe
I can work a few polkas in Chicago..."), but it was all over when he held up the
snare drum. That sparkle snare drum just called her name! Charlotte knew, yes,
this was the way to hold teenagers' attention, get dates, win contests, wear groovy,
sixties Nehru jackets and really annoy her parents! All with impossibly huge gear
to lug to and from school! It was genius! Charlotte played in the Rich East Orchestra,
the Marching Band, and started her own all girl band, the Distractions. And they
sure were! The had fab clothes, and a fab sound, and won many band contests. That
lasted until the boyfriends of the girls in the band starting sulking about how
much time it was taking away from their needs....well, that was the end of that.
After high school, Charlotte did
some time at LSU in Baton Rouge, before heading to University of Illinois as a
percussion major with an emphasis in timpani. She really enjoyed her time at U
of I, going on for her Masters Degree in Music. Due to intensive practicing, she
has no recollection of current events during her days in college. During the summers,
she played percussion for various shows such as "Your Obedient Servant, Abe Lincoln"
(on scaffolding, no less.) She did a stint one summer in Cedar Rapids Iowa, in
a Country Western band in a gin-joint....that's quite a story. That job gave her
the rolling-rhythm chops that she is famous for, especially when mixing pancakes.
The boys in the band shielded her from flying beer bottles. That's when cowboys
were gentlemen.
A temporary position opened up in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra,
over 25 years ago, so Char packed her bags and moved to "the big city." The temporary
job turned in to a full time principal percussionist position, and she never looked
back. While she was playing with the JSO, she did some teaching at FCCJ before
taking a teaching job at University of North Florida. In addition, she started
the Caribbean Sound Steel Drum Band and was part of the "house-band" for the scientific
opening of the Gomek exhibit at the Alligator Farm (those are credentials!) Charlotte
has also played in Carnegie Hall. Charlotte really got to work on the percussion
program at UNF. She's had several ensembles, including the UNF Percussion Ensemble,
and the Rosewood Ragtimers. The Perc Ensemble performs throughout North Florida
and played at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in 1998.
One of Charlotte's
favorite activities has been to produce and perform in an annual recital each
summer. This show has been running to standing room only crowds for over a decade.
It brings together many artists and features percussion as well as performance
pieces, proving that there is good 20th Century music out there...not just "bips
and boops."
click for larger pic
Charlotte enjoys loading
gear, stale quik-mart sandwiches, and feeling the wind in her hair. She kayaks,
snorkels, scoops dog poop, and tries to keep track of her schedule on little scraps
of paper. Charlotte loves Klondike bars, a really good joke, reading on the porch,
doing a little laundry, turning the handcrank siren on Sunday mornings, running
through "Turkey in the Straw" on the xylophone "one more time" and trying to figure
out how to rehearse 20th Century music. Charlotte does not enjoy traffic, but
will suffer gladly, if it will get her to Waffle House. Charlotte is only allergic
to cat barf and wearing flowers in her hair.
JSO/Teaching: