Valerie Capers wants to change the image of the borough.
The music professor, pianist, composer and jazz recording artist thinks a song just might do the trick.
"For years we've gotten a bad rap for a lot of things," said Capers, chairwoman of the Department of Music and Arts at Bronx Community College. "I've sort of become a champion of my hometown."
Reaching for piano keys, Capers sings:
...You can keep Chelsea and Sutton
and the Great White Way
The Bronx is where I want to stay...
Capers grew up on Union Avenue. Now in her 50s, she lives near the Grand Concourse. An experience 10 years ago inspired her to turn her anger over negative stereotypes into music.
While taking a boat ride on the Harlem River, Capers heard the tour operator succinctly describe the Bronx as "home to the New York Yankees and a borough made up of slums."
Capers confronted the operator. She rattled off a list of attractions he had failed to mention, including the zoo, the colleges and the historical homes.
Then, in 1992, while listening to radio coverage of the New York marathon, inspiration hit. "It came to me in about half an hour," said Capers of her jazzy tune. "Things usually don't happen that quickly."
Capers, blind since age 6, has spent her whole life in the world of music. She says she was the first blind student at the Juilliard School of Music, where she received both her bachelor's and master's degrees.
The public got its first taste of "The Bronx Song" last year at the Botanical Garden. Accompanied by a band, opera singer Beth Herneckson-Farnum belted out the tune to a crowd of thousands. The crowd quickly joined in on the chorus.
Capers has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as at various colleges in the city.
Her first album was released in 1982. Columbia Records released her second recording, a CD called "Come on Home," on the first day of spring this year. It features her piano interpretation of jazz classics, accompanied by swank musicians including trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, bassist John Robinson and percussionist Mongo Santamaria.
So, is Columbia Records interested in "The Bronx Song?"
Capers laughed. "They haven't heard it, but I guess it's not out of the realm of possibilities.