Music, music, music ...

Recently, I’ve been pre-occupied with the planning of my new record (yes, the new record that I seem to have been planning/stalling for two years!) We have finally decided on the final recording schedule, the producer, musicians, the studio and the city in which we will record. I think I even have a title, which is strangely always the most difficult decision… And though I’m no Lady Gaga I must admit a lot of my thinking has drifted to what I will wear in the studio. I want to look the part! One of my favourite photos of a musician and how he is dressed is this famous image of Sviatoslav Richter… it looks like he’s been styled by Margaret Howell ! Will it be wide legged trousers for me? All this crucial thinking explains why my blog has been rather distracted. I will redeem myself this week by choosing a charming but super cheesy wake up song and a TT test subject whose jokes are famous for being cheesy but with one of the warmest voices on radio it just makes him even more appealing : ) lotsoflove tt

Judee Sill: Jesus was a Cross Maker

My wake up song this week is a song I first heard a couple of years ago and found so original that I played it obsessively. The song ‘Jesus was a Cross Maker’ by the brilliant but troubled songwriter Judee Sill still fascinates me - it’s meaning is so elusive. Incidentally, her 1971 eponymous album, on which this song first appeared, is also lovely; I don’t fully understand the songs on that either, but what a gorgeous acoustic guitar sound! Hope you enjoy, lots of love tt.

Podcast 12

Podcast 12 has been added !! If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. Hope you enjoy, lot's of love, tt

Hair !

I saw the musical 'Hair ' yesterday afternoon [link]. The plot is not so complex, what is really emotive is the show's innocence and idealism. The cast were great and the balance between the voices and the band unusually good. And, of course, with the last song ' Let the Sunshine In' even I get teary-eyed ! Love, tt.

Ramon Tikaram / Actor

My very lovely big brother Ramon takes this week’s TT Test. As an actor he has had a varied career playing everyone from Gaddafi in the ENO’s production of Gaddafi: The Opera, Judas in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, Ferdy in ‘This Life’ and even a stint in ‘EastEnders’. I really enjoyed seeing him recently in ‘The Great Game ‘, an impressive production at the Tricycle Theatre featuring twelve half hour plays about Afghanistan. And I’m also thankful he's taken the time to answer the tt test! What is your wake up song at the moment? Long gone are the days when I could wake up to a song and feel energized... long, long gone. I now confine my musical appreciation to the early evening. Basically, every couple of months, for the last eight years, my very good friend Dai Bradley (Billy Caspar from the film "Kes"), has sent me a C.D. It is always from the ECM/ Keith Jarrett/ Ralph Towner/ Jan Garbarek/ Gary Peacock range and always hits the spot. There is, however, one uber-recording that I always return to in times of stress: - Yusef Lateef's interpretation of "The Love Theme From Spartacus" ~ if God has a wake up song, this is it. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your 
 chosen profession? I don't believe in single events, epiphanies or sudden metamorphosis. I do believe in the cumulative effect of many experiences whether it is a terrible stage performance, a conversation with a great actor or my eldest son telling me what he thinks of an audition piece. They all add up. There are, however, a few salient moments along the way. Mr Quale giving me the role of Jonah at primary school made me realize what a good skive drama was. Brando's performance in "On The Waterfront" made me want to be an actor for real. Lothaire Bluteau's incredible performance in that play we went to see (‘Being at Home with Claude’-tt ! ) forced me to understand just how far an actor has to go to provide the truth. And finally, Peter O'Toole's attitude to work on set showed me just how simple this business really is. In fact it caused me to come up with a mantra - 'don't think, just do'. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why? If I could travel back in time (a concept which you know flies against every known physical reality) it would be as a student at Oxford in 1960. Open top Morris Minor, picnics in the country, be-bop, quantum cosmology, the space programme, a working National Health Service, an energetic nation looking forward to seismic cultural change, the Footlights, West Ham at the top of their game, the absence of mobile phones and personal computers, and a regulated domestic financial structure. Tell me this wasn't a great time to live. I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me? Recently I have discovered The Compasses Inn [link] (Chicklade, Wiltshire) a 14th century thatched free house with a wonderfully rustic (authentic) interior and a beautiful garden. They serve great game and fresh country produce and they do it with flair and imagination. It has a warm, family run feeling so you're not hemmed in by pomp and ceremony. Moreover the sticky toffee pudding is ethereal. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your 
professional/ creative life? There are a lot of tips flying around the business of acting. The ones I've found most useful are: 1) When in front of camera and talking to an off-camera actor, always focus on the eye nearest the camera. 2) When on stage and suffering from a lack of moisture in the mouth and throat bite the inside of your cheek; within seconds extra saliva will be produced. 3) Less is more. 4) Don't think, just do. BONUS QUESTION: I know you are a big fan of jazz funk PLEASE explain your enthusiasm for this music to me : ) ? I love jazz. I love funk. What wouldn't I love about jazz funk? Although a fuller answer would be... Jazz funk is just another side to jazz, you know, like traditional, swing, be-bop, Latin etc. All these sub-genres have improvisational virtuosity at their centre. You can change time signature and even substitute electric for acoustic instrumentation but essentially the sub-genres of jazz share the same qualities: melody, melody deformation and a rhythm section that can opt out of the narrative at any point. Funk, on the other hand, is based on a fat backbeat, a binary rhythm that relies heavily on the use of drums and bass and is very spare in its use of other instruments as embellishment. The adoption of funk as the preferred backdrop by certain jazz purists at the end of the 1960's and throughout the 1970's (Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd and Grover Washington Junior) encapsulates what is now termed jazz funk. Have a listen to these guys - you may well love jazz funk too.

Georgie Fame: Perfect

My wake-up song this week is 'Peaceful' performed by Georgie Fame. I first heard this song a few months ago and was immediately charmed by it's breeziness & warmth. I hope you enjoy it too ! I know I've been a bit quiet lately but I hope to have some exciting news to share with you soon !! Happy Easter ! Lots of love tt

4.48 Psychosis & Louis Prima

I saw a production of Sarah Kane’s "4.48 Psychosis" this week from the Polish theatre Company TR Warszawa [link]. I just sort of crumbled into it and was shocked how such an extreme state of despair could be so powerfully & poetically expressed. I think this play & production will haunt me for a long, long time and if you do have the opportunity it is really worth seeing a performance from this truly exciting theatre company.Also, I can’t stop listening to Louis Prima! Do you think it’s a Spring thing ??!! Here is a classic track, Louis Prima and Keely Smith singing "That Old Black Magic", love tt

Afroditi Krassa / Designer

This week’s TT Test is taken by designer Afroditi Krassa [link]. Afroditi studied product design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and under Ron Arad at the Royal College of Art. She was the first woman to be hired by design duo Seymour Powell and founded her own award-winning consultancy in 2002 with an impressive client list including Ligne Roset, John Lewis, Pret-a-manger, Sketch, DKNY, and The Big Issue among others. The most recognizable example of her work is probably the interiors and branding that she created for the Japanese food chain Itsu. Afroditi is a great talent and a very lively conversationalist; I’m thrilled that she has taken the time to answer the TT test !! What is your wake up song at the moment? I don't wake up to music. Music is a night thing for me. It has to be dark. I have fallen in love with Martha Wainwright’s voice lately and have revisited her duet with Snowpatrol “Set the fire to the third bar”, I got hooked once again. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession? Meeting and working alongside Julian Metcalfe, the founder of Pret a Manger and itsu. There are just not enough people like Julian in this world. He has a force and creative energy, which I have never come across before and an enormous capacity to inspire and connect to people. He has taught me some of the most memorable lessons, the kind of things that you only click about a few years later and realize how wise someone is; he has been a client, a mentor and a sort of father all rolled into one. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why? This is a no-brainer for me; it’s got to be Classical Greece. We are talking about a time when you had a Goddess specializing in the protection of prostitutes, a God of wine which you celebrated by getting totally high on alcohol an drugs, free theatre, as well as a chance to work on projects like the Parthenon. 2,500 years later, are we missing out on something? I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me? Try Paneri, in Wood Green, London, a small family-run, Greek Cypriot restaurant. I have been taking friends of mine there for years; you have to be prepared to face a feast of delicious, simple, homemade Greek food. I leave feeling like a little child who just visited their grandmother’s place for lunch on a warm, Sunday afternoon. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/creative life? Ron Arad told me to never to fall in love with my own work. BONUS QUESTION: I'm fascinated by how all the designers I know are both creative and business people. When I say 'business people' I mean they are confident about selling themselves in the market place whereas I as a songwriter have the buffer of management who both protect me from and present me to a commercial world. How do you balance those two sides in your working life and is it possible to be a successful designer if you do not have this very strong entrepreneurial spirit? I don't think that designers are very good business people. However, I think good designers are passionate about design and its significance within our cultural and economical system. In the absence of a professional representation body (like an agent or a management team), we have to find ourselves channels for our work to reach the public, where it should be. Selling a good design should be an easy job, after all as creatives we are trained to communicate on a very high visual and verbal level. However, “selling” is only one of the skills that a good business person should have. Unfortunately, most designers lack all other skills necessary to run a successful business.

Blonde Redhead: Elephant Woman

Sorry I have been so sleepy this week, I need a very strong wake-up song !! So I’ve chosen "Elephant Woman" from Blonde Redhead. I love the melody and the slightly scary lyrics, which in part I’ve reproduced here as they are not so easy to make out : "Elephant Girl", It was an accident unfortunate, Angel threw me like a rubber man, Aiming for the ground, Why amuse yourself in such a way ? No don’t insist I’m already hurt, Lay me down on the ground softly softly, Don’t remove my head hurts much too much… Intriguing, hope you enjoy it, love tt

Podcast 10

Podcast 10 has been added !! If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. Hope you enjoy, lot's of love, tt

International Woman's Day

It's International Woman's Day today [link] !! There's only one song for a day like this !!

Ólöf Arnalds : Innundir Skinni

This week's wake up song is by Icelandic singer-songwriter Olof Arnalds. "Innundir Skinni" is such a sweet song. Simply and beautifully performed. I hope you enjoy it, lots of love tt

Vasiliki Gkotsi / Painter

This week’s TT Test is taken by the wonderful Greek born artist Vasiliki Gkotsi who has lived and worked in London for twelve years graduating in 1999 from the Royal College of Art with a Masters degree in painting. A collector has said of her work, "It’s powerful, big, both in complexity and size; I love the challenge, even in her portraits, and the eyes are incredible." She has exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, at the BP portrait award in 2002 where she was commended and again, in 2003. Her work has also been shown with major artists internationally and is in private collections all over the world. Her answers are interesting & honest. And Vasiliki certainly knows how to answer a question with a question! Important note: in the photo of Vasiliki we see her in her unheated studio on a very cold Winter’s day hence the many layers of clothing :) What is your wake up song at the moment? At the moment and every moment the human voice and specially chanting from the monks of Mount Athos. It is the only sound I can hear during my work. It compliments the process. It affirms the moments. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession? Chosen profession? Did "I" choose it? I don’t know. I always have a feeling that I don’t have a choice but to do it, that’s why I am doing it with such persistence. Otherwise the "failing" moments would have made me give up. What influenced me? It’s the painting itself. I always felt that is the most challenging matter… the most difficult thing to do and somehow if I manage to "do" it, I will "be". About an artwork or event I would say I have influences from many artists through history and today. If you want me to tell you something more tangible, happening at the beginning, it is when I started as a student in painting at the Athens School of Fine Art, I read Van Gogh’s biography and I was crying all the way through, I deeply related. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why? Why back in time and not front as well? I wouldn’t like to ignore the future as the "who I would be" lies there. I would like to visit all and none. So I prefer none. I like being in real time, being in now. At the end of the day does it really matter? The "question" of life is always the same for every person, in all periods. But if I have to answer at some level, I would say I would like to experience as a "spirit" the period of the 3 years teaching of Christ right through his passion. Realizing my spiritual "poverty" and my need to deepen the mystery of sacrifice, I feel I would manage to "follow" even if the pain would be excruciating. I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me? A friend once took me to 222 Veggie Vegan, 222 North End Rd, London [link] It has the most "clean" tasteful, delicious food I have ever eaten and… & I am not a vegan. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/ creative life? I listen to all the comments or advice from people seriously, all of them have a meaning, one of the good ones is "Work hard but don’t try hard" by Chris Ofili, when I was a student at the Royal College of Art. BONUS QUESTION: You have a strong religious faith. How has this affected the way you choose to be an artist and does it influence your choice of subject matter? Shall we replace the religious faith with the faith on the revelation of the spirit as the word religious refers more to spiritual systems and it can be a projection of the human being. Again here we have the word choice, choose to be an artist and choice of subject matter. If I can choose to be an artist then I am not there yet and on the subject matter… if I have a choice then it is not art. I don’t want to have choices. I want to be dizzy by the inspiration and work beyond. My best paintings "happened" because I had no choice but to do them. That inspired me for my commissions to treat them, as I have no choice but to make a masterpiece. It is like love, you don’t have a choice but to love the others. And this is one with spirituality and the full body is there functioning without fragmentation. Whether we talk on Spirituality or Art, what it is all about is experiencing new ways of loving the others. Every moment always, love is at stake.

Legally Blonde

Great Sunday afternoon in spite of the rain ! Saw the matinee performance of the musical "Legally Blonde" - which must be one of the happiest shows in london. The singing and dancing is funny and great and Sheridan Smith as Elle Woods is amazing !! Highly recommended ! Love tt

Johnny Daye : Stay Baby Stay

My wake up song this week is "Stay Baby Stay" sung by Johnny Daye. Johnny Daye was mentored by & brought to Stax Records by Otis Redding, in spite of this, Stax Records never really promoted this gorgeous soul ballad & it is not as widely known as it deserves to be. It is a classic production (I think by Steve Cropper) with the most beautiful string arrangement, slow groove and a perfectly judged vocal performance from Daye. Hope you enjoy it ,lots of love tt

Podast 11 Happy Valentine's Day !!

Hello, I can't resist posting this early even though it means the podcasts are now slightly out of sequence. It's a special song for Valentine's day, I wonder if you can guess which song it is ;) If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. Lots of love tt

Podcast 9

Podcast 9 has been added !! If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. This is one of my favourites, because it's the sort of song that could be drifting through a brownstone apartment window... at least I hope that's what it sounds like !! lotsoflove tt

Johnny Dankworth

Sir John Dankworth, the great British jazz musician and composer has just passed away. When I was a kid my brother borrowed a Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine record from the local library which if I remember rightly were versions of Shakespeare’s sonnets put to music (it sounds so unlikely that I wonder if I have just dreamed this record) and we really loved it. He also seemed to be credited as a composer on every cool British movie of the late 50s and 60s that we were also in love with. As a teenager I wanted that jazz to be the soundtrack to my earnest teenage rebellion too ! He will be greatly missed , lots of love tt

Daniel Barenboim & the Staatskapelle Berlin

Perhaps, one of the reasons I love classical music is because I love stories and classical music is full of them: the story of the composers, the historical and social changes that shape the story of Western music and the stories within every individual composition. However, I did not expect when Daniel Barenboim returned to the stage on Tuesday’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall, after having played and conducted a sublime Beethoven’s piano concerto No.3, that he was about to spend a good deal of the second half of the concert telling us the story of Schoenberg’s Variations, Op 31. What a wonderful, life enhancing evening - Barenboim is such a great communicator, like a favourite teacher, funny & wise & generously making you feel as if he is discovering new things as well. He made Schoenberg’s Variations seem as natural as a Strauss waltz (actually, Strauss’ "Thunder & Lightening Polka" was the killer encore) and not scary at all ! I’m sure many people in the audience felt the evening was as magical as I had because by the end we were all on our feet cheering. Truly, an evening to treasure. Lots of love tt

Lubna Azabal / Actress

This week’s TT test is taken by the very gifted Lubna Azabal, an actress who often portrays people on the edge of society or facing extreme situations. Lubna was born in Brussels to parents of Moroccan origin and trained at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. Her acting career began in theatre in Belgium where she was soon noticed by the film world winning leading roles with many auteur directors including Tony Gatlif, Denis Villeneuve and Andre Techine. To an English audience she is probably best known for the highly acclaimed BBC drama "Occupation". She brings a rare intensity and truthfulness to her work. I’m very happy she has found the time to answer the TT test ! What is your wake up song at the moment? "Ça m'énerve" Helmut Fritz , because everything upsets me at the moment and especially what has been happening in Haïti. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession ? My nervous breakdown when I was 21 years old and my passion for traveling!! If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why ? To when I was a teenager, just to have the possibility to reset my life and become a great reporter or a dancer or a painter… I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me ? My mother’s place, the best restaurant in the world!!! Otherwise "La Gloria" Lima - Péru (the best food, I've ever had!!!) What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/creative life ? Follow your instinct and go, just do whatever happens, just do it and life will do the rest. BONUS QUESTION : Do you think your ethnic background has led to you being type cast ? For example, I would love to see you in a comedy, you are naturally funny & a great mimic, but I'm sure you are not offered many roles in comedy. Of course! A lot of people don't have imagination, especially in my work (director, casting director, agent...) and it's so easy for them to put people in a box. But it's our work as artists, to change that very old fashion mentality.