Podcast 3

Hi, I've added a new podcast. Hope you will enjoy it. For those who haven't already, all you have to do to listen to the podcasts is click on the sign for the mailing list on the right hand side of the page and sign up ! Lots of love tt

Christie's Arsep

Sylvie Bardet, who created my rather lovely website, has a photo in the Christie's ARSEP art auction. All the proceeds from this auction will go towards ARSEP : [link] an organization which funds essential research into multiple sclerosis. If you are interested in photography or would just like to contribute to a great cause or both please check out the online auction [link], you can also see the photos in person at the Christie's salesroom, Paris June 1-3. Lots of love tt

Micachu & The Shapes

Wow, I've just heard this band called Micachu & The Shapes. They are amazing, check them out ! Love tt

New podcast added !

Hello, there is a new podcast in the attic ! All you have to do to enter the attic is sign up to the newsletter, I hope you enjoy it , love tt

Martha Argerich

I'm a bit grumpy at the moment, I have a nasty throat infection (which EVERYONE in my personal universe knows about and is completely bored by ) and it's meant that I have missed three concerts !! That's fine, these things happen but I am very sad about missing one particular concert. I had tickets to see Martha Argerich at the Royal Festival Hall. On two previous occasions she has cancelled last minute and on the one evening she does show up I have to cancel ! Well, a friend who did go informed me that it was astonishing, the best live performance she's ever seen ( this friend is over seventy, and seen many concerts so I think that's a great compliment ! ). So this is kind of a dream review, I suppose, of a dream concert : ) lots of love tt

Bea Arthur

Sadly, Bea Arthur passed away this weekend. I remember when 'The Golden Girls' first came out & what a buzz it caused amongst me and my teenage friends. I don't think we had ever seen such feisty, sexy, sassy & hilarious older ladies before - it was wonderful and life affirming. Of course, we all had a soft spot for the really tall one whose grouchiness mirrored our own teenage temperament. Here is a classic clip which is also a reminder of what a great singer Bea Arthur was. Lots of love tt

"In dieser stadt"

My wake up song at the moment is Hildegard Knef singing "In dieser stadt". I remember the Canadian writer Ann-Marie MacDonald describing the German language as a beautiful woman wearing a man's shirt. Listening to this wonderful performance I completely understand what she means ! Love tt.

Easter

Over Easter, I visited 3 London exhibitions. Roni Horn at the Tate [link] I had the feeling that she was not quite comfortable with the space and I preferred seeing her work in Iceland. Hussein Chalayan at the Design Museum [link] was fun, I really liked the film with the futuristic pod. And my favourite Annette Messager at the Hayward [link]. If you have the chance, please see it ! I think the installation 'Casino' is one of the most beautiful and magical I've ever seen. Love tt.

TT Podcast !

I have a new page on my website called 'the attic' in which you will find a TT podcast. In the podcast I will sing an accoustic version of one of my old songs and talk a little bit about it. To gain access to the attic, all you have to do is sign up to the mailing list: link. Thank you to those who have already done this. I hope you will enjoy it and I will add more podcasts in the future ! Lots of love tt.

Helen Levitt

I was saddened to hear that Helen Levitt the photographer has recently passed away. I've mentioned her before on the 'mystuff page' of my website as I am a big fan. It may seem trite to say this but she really was able to tell a story in a photo. I always felt that she was coming from the same place as her subjects, there's no judgement, polite barrier or commentary (well, that's sort of impossible but you know what I mean). She was a rare talent and will be greatly missed. Love tt.

Still writing...

Still working on new material. I’m very happy writing with Mark, he has brought this truly joyous sense of groove to the songs and I feel he is bringing out a different side of me. There are even a couple of songs that if I heard them by someone else, I would be quite envious. (Oops! Am I allowed to say that? I guess it’s ok to throw the occasional flower at yourself !) Who knows what will happen ? When you actually end up recording an album, you can be so easily distracted by non-musical choices and have a sudden lack of faith. My aim is just to keep this freshness & enthusiasm through the whole process. Lots of love tt

Lecuona Cuban boys

My wake up song at the moment is Lecuona Cuban Boys ‘Hindu’. It reminds me of Lotte Lenya singing ‘Alabama’ in that it fills me with nostalgia for the giddy & slightly debauched life I have yet to live ! I hope you enjoy it, the sound quality is not great but I think that sort of adds to it :) Lots of love tt

Interesting ….

Sometimes I enjoy attending an event where I don’t know what to expect. I decided to try the ‘This is Tuesday‘ experimental music evening at King’s Place: link. The performance from the Melissa Phelps ensemble was a revelation. The ensemble consists of eight cellos creating a truly wonderful, warm, human and sensual sound. I was also impressed by how open the audience is. One of the other pieces, the composer enthusiastically explained, was based on sampling the note that you get from holding down a string on a guitar and plucking the string on the left fret side of the held down chord as oppose to plucking over the more usual sound hole. This was then processed & edited according to a mathematical formula involving prime numbers.The live guitarist then responds to the sample according to another mathematical formula. It sounded like some one eating with chopsticks and a few random chords played on electric guitar (of course, it isn’t random because of all the elaborate sums involved!). I’m ashamed to admit this. Believe me, I tried everything: mediation, self-hypnosis, counting the audience, pretending the music was from another planet but I was bored! The audience, however, kept with it. I don’t know if they actually enjoyed it but I didn’t see anyone giggling or yawning. Quite refreshing when we are supposed to be living in an age where no one can focus their attention on anything for longer than three minutes. Perhaps contemporary music is the Way. I too can become a little Zen Buddha instead of the fidgety five year old that I usually am by not judging everything that I hear! Anyway, I do recommend these evenings,it’s a treat to hear live music in such an informal atmosphere even if some of the music is not what I would usually choose to listen to :) Lots of love, Tanita

Ramon !

Ramon my brother came by this week to sing on one of the new songs. He has a completely different voice to me, it is really powerful (perhaps, this is because he is an actor). So basically I get him to sing the really hard bits on the song which I can't sing ;) I sing in French on this song, which is funny and I hope you will like it as much as I liked doing it. Perhaps, I've been listening to too much Serge Gainsbourg and watching too many Isabelle Huppert movies ! Love tt

Elisabeth Leonskaja

Wednesday evening Mark and I went to the Wigmore Hall to hear Elisabeth Leonskaja. Playing Beethoven’s late piano sonatas. One of the most magical concerts I’ve ever heard was Leonskaja’s Schubert recital at the same venue. So I was really looking forward to this. She did not disappoint especially in the last sonata Op.111. I’m uncomfortable writing about music that moves me, it feels intimate and a little silly. When I hear a great performance my feelings are so contradictory: a great stillness and order, but then this super alertness to every change and variation even in the texture of sound and this beautiful fragility because the spell can so easily be broken. Maybe what I'm trying to say is that great music makes us feel everything. Lots of love, Tanita.

Mark Creswell

I’m currently finishing off the new material with Mark Creswell. I’ve known Mark since I was 18 so it was about time that we actually wrote together ! We share so many influences: soul, country, reggae but what I appreciate most about him is his openness to all kinds of music. For example last night we had a retro moment and listened to a few tracks from Madonna’s album ‘Music’. Both of us awestruck by Mirwais the producer's ability to organize sound (I’m afraid I can’t think of a better way to describe what he does). But Mark will also happily sit through a DVD of Daniel Barenboim giving a Beethoven Master class. What more can you ask from a musical collaborator ! Love, tt

Photo (c) Sylvie Bardet

Piano Mania

Last week my two pianos were regulated and generally spruced up by a wonderful piano technician called Ben Edwards. And although the biggest influence on my piano playing remains Les Dawson : .I can still appreciate that after all Ben’s hard work if someone proper played the pianos they would sound amazing ! Ben also has another talent under his stage name Ben Fairlight he is a professional story teller : [link]. That seems like two truly cool jobs. In my fantasy job life I think I would like to be a piano technician/story teller ! Love, tt

Happy New Year !

Hello. Happy New Year to everyone ! I wish you all a peaceful year full of adventure and lots of new discoveries... and, of course Love, love, love tt.

Wolfgang Tillmans

Tuesday evening was rather exciting. I had my photo taken by Wolfgang Tillmans. I love his work but what is an even more pleasant discovery is that he is such an affable and warm man. I also have the impression that he is as passionate about photography as the day he began. Talking of affable, lovely people I met the young Australian singer - songwriter Lisa Mitchell recently. I can’t praise her enough. There is something intense and light about her which probably doesn’t make sense until you hear her music. Check out ‘Neopolitan Dreams’: [link]. Lot's of love, tt.

Finished a song last week...

... that had been rather troublesome. It has such a lovely beginning that I didn't quite know how to reach the end. When it was finally finished I said to Mark my co-writer "Mmmm. This is a song that is really about adult emotions ". I always feel so absurdly satisfied when I've done one of them!