I don't believe that I've actually sat down and listened to "Sisé" from the "PUBLIC ACCESS" CD('89) in 10 years or more! I'm writing this on a beautiful summer's day in July of '03 and, though this lead sheet will not appear at KORNER 2 until February of '04, I am still amazed that I was a participant in the compositional and recording processes of this most unusual piece of music. I continue to say that, sometimes, when a group composes together, when something is the product of 5 minds, as in this case, you can come-up with things which no one person could have invented.
    After we, Eyewitness, had recorded "CASA LOCO" in '83, things really seemed to unravel for the group. Though our recordings were released in chronological order in Japan, in the U.S. and Europe it was much more difficult to get things off the ground. As a matter of fact, all three recordings had been released in Japan before "EYEWITNESS" was even released here!!! "CASA LOCO" was not released in the U.S. until '85. It was very frustrating. And, when you add to that the fact that it was easier for us to go play in Japan than it was to play anywhere outside of New York City, well, it just seemed like the message was all to clear, "this music did not appeal to enough people to keep the group alive!" And so, somewhere during late '85, without a real formal announcement, we just stopped working on new music together and I went and joined Joe Zawinul's Weather Update for a 7-week tour of Europe and the U.S.! However, the story of Eyewitness was far from over.
    During some of post-"Casa Loco" rehearsals at Steve Jordan's loft, we continued to explore that type of extended song form which would still include all the "jazz" and "Latin jazz" elements alongside Manolo Badrena's inventive vocals and lyrics. I continued to record those 'jams' on a portable cassette deck. But, when the band seemed to be at an end, those CSTEs were just stored away, neatly and safely, in a closet.
    In '88, after getting married, I realized that I had not been thinking much about music at all, and so I remembered those old rehearsal CSTEs and spent an afternoon listening through all of them. During those hours I located 'jams' which were to become the 'germs' of four of our most interesting compositions: "Sisé"; "Kamarica"; "Botero People"; and "Mama Chóla." At that time, I had no record deal, as usual, and decided that I would self-finance, for the 3rd time, my own recording. I phoned Anthony Jackson and Manolo to see if they would do it with me so that we not allow these potentially unique compositions to die on a rehearsal CSTE. They agreed and we decided to call upon our close friend, the brilliant Dave Weckl to play drums with us for this project.
    I spent virtually all my time trying to complete the musical side of the compositions, plus writing new pieces. More than this, I began traveling back-and-forth to New Jersey(where Manolo had moved) to work with him on just where and how his vocals would fit; and to monitor the progress of the lyrics. I had no idea how very special it would all be once it was completed. And, in January of '89, we entered into one week of intense rehearsals, and then we recorded and mixed, "PUBLIC ACCESS."
    The fundamental 'germ' of this tune is set-up by the very simple guitar figure which appears in the [Vamp]. It is, in essence, a "guajira" which, on the surface seems to be going to-and-from Abm7 to Db7. However, with the beauties of the guitar's open-strings, when you add the open E-string to this, in this key an F-natural(#9), you get a rather unique sounding guajira. Then, when you add to this the brilliant bass mind of Anthony Jackson suddenly a two-chord montuno has touched upon harmonic areas like Gmaj7(#4) and Emaj6/9. And in the letter [A] sections we brush by Dmaj7(6) as well. Again, this is why 'group composition' can be so remarkable. I never would have thought of those harmonic touches! NEVER!
    Of course, what can I say about the lyrics? I am probably NOT the best person to attempt to explain any of this, but, I'll try. Manolo once explained to me that "Sisé" is supposed to be some kind of play-on-words, and related to "Circe" from "THE ODYSSEY" who tempted sailors to veer off course! So, make of that what you will. The rest is a combination of God knows which dialects, which combine some African and Spanish roots. Just remember that in "Manolo-speak" all the vowels have Spanish pronunciations, so: a = ah; e = ay; i = ee; o = oh; and u = oo.
    I can't escape sharing with you a little 'studio humor' from our assistant engineer for the project, Pat Dillett, who, like the rest of us, not understanding a damn thing about what Manolo was saying, made-up his own lyrics based upon the sounds he was hearing, and they began something like this: