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!

Gerald Kersh and Bill Withers

Hello, I'm in the middle of a riveting read. It's called 'Night and the City' by Gerald Kersh. Never heard of him till about three minutes ago! And the only reason I discovered him was because I was listening to a radio play and the American accent of the actress puzzled me. So I googled her to see if it was genuine. It was. I'm afraid I don't remember her name but I am thankful to her as she mentions on her website that her favourite writer in the world is Gerald Kersh. Gerald Kersh ?!! How can someone's favourite writer be someone I've never heard of ? Anyway, if you like the idea of a twitchy protagonist crisscrossing a shady 1930s London you are in for a treat with 'Night and the City'... I'm a bit over-excited. A friend has just sent me a link to a new documentary about Bill withers : stillbillthemovie.com. I think Bill Withers is amazing and I can't wait for this film to be released. Take care , lots of love tt.

Welcome to my new blog. Sorry it's taken so long to begin !

I hope everyone has had a long and enjoyable summer. My summer was fine except for my one valiant attempt to go green by taking a holiday on the English coast (I live in London). It lasted exactly two days. Rain and the uncomfortable feeling that I hadn't really gone away defeated me. So above I have posted a photo from my more successful 2007 holiday. I'm not advertising 'Northface' or Patagonia clothing it's just that I'm in Iceland and all photos in such a landscape look like adventure clothing adverts. Iceland, incidentally, is very beautiful. If you have the chance to visit, drive around the road that circles the whole of Iceland and you will see many magical sights... maybe even a troll ! They have amazing coffee and obviously no child labour laws. I once checked into a hotel in Iceland and noticed that the first floor cleaning duties were being handled by one plucky 14-year old and a fresh-faced band of 10 year olds . And one of those 10 year olds was on roller skates... Musically, the writing is going well. I will add more about that in my next blog (hurrah !). My wake up song at the moment is 'L'Appuntamento' sung by Ornella Vanoni. It's a song with a real warm-hearted melancholy, that Italians do so well. I'm very jealous of Latin songs. They seem to be able to express this sentiment in which the lovers are really in a theatre of love - tortured by their roles and conventions. And probably enjoying it. In English this sort of sentiment in a song can sound a bit silly or forced. There are, however , a few exceptions to this. In the 60s, a golden period for big singers and big songs, there were a few Italian or French songs being translated into English covered with great conviction by notable singers like Shirley Bassey, Elvis Presley and, of course Dusty Springfield. Those singers, they had or still have in the case of Shirley Bassey everything , drama AND intimacy... ps : how odd as I'm finishing off my blog I hear the brass section from Shirley Bassey's 'Big Spender' blaring out of a passing car ! Lotsof love tt

Photo (c) Sylvie Bardet