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Ink on Silk

from A Breath She Took by Frances Livings

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Jazzoetry Recording of Ink on Silk

The third and last piece on the EP, Ink on Silk is similar to Goldfish Bowl because it's about feeling highly frustrated and crazy-made. In Goldfish Bowl there's a permanent state of lingering, total confusion and powerlessness. Whereby in Ink on Silk it is about trying to solve things but not having any impact, thus getting more and more infuriated and frustrated. This is why a percussive instrument with clanging metal bars seemed so suitable.

I had heard the vibraphonist, Nick Mancini, a couple of times live and was always impressed by his eagerness and fearlessness to improvise both rhythmically and melodically on his instrument. Some soloists carefully plan their improvisations but Nick almost lets his instrument lead him, moreover, seduce him into stepping out onto a stormy expedition. During the recording of Ink on Silk, he was also able to create some quite unusual sounds by almost bending the aluminium sound bars with his felt mallets and giving the piece its perfect colourings.

lyrics

Ink on Silk

I just want to say it!
but not just on paper
no draft in dull pencil
not well composed
no crossing of T’s
and dotting of I’s
no chicken feet scratch
but into the paper –
Hack! Hack! Hack, hack!

Onto the page and into the paper
with fierce metal fangs
H’s and T’s, K’s, M’s and P’s
each iron tooth a dedicated shape
a hammering clamp, a set impression
an instrument of precision,
digging its mark, a letter, a number
into your flesh, your pretty virgin paper
branding, without regret
without recall

Like ink on silk,
I want you to absorb me!
staining and travelling
branching out in a venography
no full-stop, no halt on a page
no shiny rainbow island of oil on water
I want to be drank by your blotting paper
entering your tissue
and soaking each cell
my pigment ingrained
my soul in a tattoo
ink on silk
not ink in a well.

© Frances Livings 2011

credits

from A Breath She Took, released January 20, 2019
:
Credits:
Artist: Frances Livings
Label: Moontraxx, 2019
Frances Livings - vocals
Nick Mancini - vibraphone

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Frances Livings Los Angeles, California

The London-born artist Frances Livings can be heard on a variety of recordings. Besides music, she has worked as a designer, has earned a PhD in art history and is the founder of the music production company Moontraxx.
Drawing from these different life experiences has made her ability to both craft and tell a story very unique. ... more

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