circle in a square

HI-FIDELITY
DOTI-1001
LAUREN KINHAN
CIRCLE
IN A
SQUARE
CIRCLE IN A SQUARE
MY PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY
ANOTHER HILL TO CLIMB
CHASING THE SUN
I’M LOOKIN’ FOR THAT NUMBER
TO LIVE OR DIE
POCKETFUL OF HARLEM
WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE TODAY
CHAUSSURE’S COMPLEX
BEAR WALK
VANITY’S PARAMOUR
THE DEEP WITHIN
LAUREN
KINHAN
CIRCLE IN A SQUARE
CIRCLE IN A SQUARE
Music by Lauren Kinhan & Ada Rovatti
Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, Fender Rhodes
Ben Wittman, drums + percussion
Will Lee, bass
Randy Brecker, trumpet
Lauren Kinhan, Marlon Saunders,
Ella Marcus, backround vocals
MY PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY
CHASING THE SUN
Music by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums + percussion
Aaron Heick, alto flute
Romero Lubambo, guitar
I’M LOOKIN’ FOR THAT NUMBER
Music & Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
Joel Frahm, Soprano Saxophone
Horn arrangement by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano and B3 organ
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone
John Bailey, flugel horn
ANOTHER HILL TO CLIMB
TO LIVE OR DIE
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Music & Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
String quartet arrangement by Rob Mounsey
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
Sara Caswell (1st violin), Joseph Brent (2nd violin),
Lois Martin (viola), Jody Redhage (cello)
Music & Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums + percussion
Romero Lubambo, guitar
POCKETFUL OF HARLEM
Music by Lauren Kinhan & Andy Ezrin
Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
Will Lee, bass
Ben Wittman, drums + percussion
Chuck Loeb, guitar
Lauren Kinhan, background vocals
WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE TODAY
Music & Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
CHAUSSURE’S COMPLEX
Music & Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums + percussion
Gary Versace, accordion
BEAR WALK
Music by Jiro Yoshida, Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
Will Lee, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
Randy Brecker, trumpet
VANITY’S PARAMOUR
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Andy Ezrin, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone
THE DEEP WITHIN
Music by Peter Eldridge & Lauren Kinhan
Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Peter Eldridge, piano
David Finck, bass
Ben Wittman, drums
Joel Frahm, tenor saxophone
LAUREN KINHAN
CIRCLE IN A SQUARE
T
ANDY EZRIN
BEN WITTMAN
DAVID FINCK
WILL LEE
with
SPECIAL GUESTS
RANDY BRECKER
ROMERO LUBAMBO
CHUCK LOEB
DONNY MCCASLIN
JOEL FRAHM
GARY VERSACE and
PETER ELDRIDGE
he first thing you notice is her voice, and then her savvy
choices. Lauren Kinhan possesses a rare and beautiful
instrument, tough and tender, clear and fine-grained in
every register, whether she’s dipping down into husky chest
tones or ascending into silvery head tones. With her glorious
sound, she could sing anything and make it a memorable listening experience, but Kinhan is defining herself as an artist
by creating her own material, making a compelling case that
21st century jazz singers can thrive outside the context of the
American Songbook. Rooted in jazz’s improvisational imperative, she knows that you best celebrate the music by remaking
it in your own image. “Think of me as a horn player who sings
a lyric or a dancer filling a phrase, a reedy voice that’s lived
in, adventurous and unapologetic,” Kinhan says. “It all circles
around living in the moment, telling a story and letting conventions be undressed and re-outfitted.”
Circle in a Square is only Kinhan’s third release under her
own name, but she’s already established a vivid identity as
a songwriter with a gift for capturing the emotional currents
of everyday life. She made a powerful first impression with
2000’s Hardly Blinking, an eclectic program of original songs
exploring an array of topics and instrumental textures. A decade later, she followed up with the highly personal Avalon,
an album deeply informed by her experience of motherhood,
and the pleasures and challenges of family life. In many ways
Circle In a Square picks up where Avalon left off, evoking the
numinous possibilities in a flirty pair of shoes, a familiar melody, or an insinuating groove.
Part of what makes Circle in a Square so revelatory is that
it provides a rare 360-degree glimpse into Kinhan’s musical
world. She wrote all the lyrics and almost all the music for every piece, and shaped each arrangement working with her core
rhythm section of pianist/keyboardist Andy Ezrin and drummer
Ben Wittman (the well-traveled Will Lee and David Finck divide bass duties). The steady personnel provides a cohesive
feel throughout the album, while an all-star gallery of special
guests contributes instrumental commentary and eloquent solos, such as Brazilian guitar great Romero Lubambo’s perfectly
sculpted acoustic passage on the intricate, lyric-less “Chasing
the Sun” and trumpet maestro Randy Brecker’s melodically
charged passage on the title track.
Let’s talk about that title track, which opens the album. “It’s
a bird/It’s a plane” Kinhan sings, but instead of a Superman
sighting she’s hailing music itself. Sounding like a cross between Donald Fagen and Joni Mitchell, the song captures the
evocative power of a record spinning on a turntable with a
finely etched lyric married to a seductive melody that embodies the very transportive power Kinhan describes. It’s a bravura performance, and everything that follows lives up to its
implicit promise. She often makes brilliant use of contrasting
musical elements, like the way the jagged piano figure sets
off the long sinuous melody of “My Painted Lady Butterfly”
(a song tied together by Joel Frahm’s serpentine soprano sax
solo). She summons the intensity of a gospel singer on the
deceptively languorous “Another Hill to Climb,” which initially sounds like an uplifting anthem but instead unfolds as a
cautionary tale. Whether rapturously becalmed (“The Deep
Within”), on the good-time prowl (“Pocketful of Harlem”), or
tormented by the search for unknowable answers (“To Live or
Die”), Kinhan turns each piece into a self-contained emotional
narrative driven by her unerring musical taste.
A master at folding her particular gifts into collaborations
with other musicians, Kinhan has spent her illustrious career
keeping superlative company. None other than avant-garde
legend Ornette Coleman gave her an early boost, featuring
Kinhan on “Don’t You Know by Now,” a ravishing tune from
his 1996 album Sound Museum, Three Women. He was so
taken with her voice and presence that he invited her to reprise the song with him at Lincoln Center and to sing one of
her originals. But she’s best known as a singer who thrives
amongst fellow vocalists, particularly for her ongoing 20-year
tenure with New York Voices. She’s also a founding member of
two other vocal supergroups, the quintet Moss (with Luciana
Souza, Kate McGarry, Theo Bleckmann, and Peter Eldridge),
and the trio JaLaLa (with Janis Siegel and Laurel Massé). But
there’s no denying the scope and power of Kinhan’s individual
vision. With Circle in a Square she fully reveals herself as an
inspired singer and songwriter whose voice gains depth with
every listen.
Andrew Gilbert is a music writer in Berkeley, Calif. who
writes for the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury
News, JazzTimes and other publications.
I
would first like to thank my dear friend and partner Elliot
Scheiner for making this one of the most creative and
pleasurable recording experiences of my life. You create
an environment of trust and respect that everyone thrives in.
Thank you for opening your home to me and sharing your wonderful family (that means you Diana). Which leads me to your
talented and charming son, Mathew Scheiner, who began engineering our vocal sessions and quickly became a core part of
the realization of the project. Awright, now! Thank you to my
trio extraordinaire. Whether the formation was Andy, Ben and
David or Andy, Ben and Will, you guys gave me such rich and
nuanced performances. Andy, thank you for the extra care in
preparing for the session. You are an exquisite musician and
human being. Ben, we have shared all three of my solo projects together and on each one you graced it with your artistry, generosity of spirit and taught me so much along the way.
David, thank you for bringing your magnificent sound and vibe
to the music. And Will, wow, what a thrill to have you be a
part of this. You bring so much more than personality and good
wardrobe, you are all about the music. Your attention to detail
and willingness to explore showed your heart and why you are
the Cat and always will be the Cat!
Thank you to my very special guests who took this from a lovely trio and voice record to a densely layered chocolate cake.
Randy, you are a master and one heck of a cool dude. Romero,
you gave the songs that extra helping of passion and groove
that I was looking for. Chuck, I’m so honored we found a way
for you to add your incredible voice to the “Pocket.” Gary, what
can I say, I’m still laughing and crying at the same time, you are
an extraordinary musician and nailed the vibe on the French
bistro piece. Joel, you never cease to amaze me with your
heart. You just know how to get to the essence of the music
and say the most profound things. Donny, having known you
from our Berklee College of Music days, you are that unique
and powerful voice that comes along once in a lifetime. And
Peter, my dear friend and colleague, I know my musical life is
grander because of you.
Thank you Rob Mounsey for the delicious string quartet arrangement that was in turn so divinely played by Jody Redhage, Sara Caswell, Joseph Brent and Lois Martin. Thanks
to Aaron Heick for adding the deep moan of the Alto flute on
“Chasing the Sun.” And a big hug to my dear friend Marlon
Saunders for “whooping up” the “Circle in the Square” vocals,
along with my talented daughter Ella Marcus who is becoming
quite the beautiful singer and musician.
Thank you to Ada Rovatti, Jiro Yoshida, Andy Ezrin and Peter
Eldridge for your wonderful contributions to the compositions.
Much gratitude to Michael Brorby at Acoustic Recording and
Cynthia Daniels at Monk Music Studios. Sandrine Lee for the
beautiful photos and vision, Burton Yount for another exquisite
package, and the talented Flynn Pyykkonen and Madeleleine
Cooke. Also, thank you to Melissa Hammons for helping me
hold all the pieces together on the big tracking days.
Thank you to Ann Braithwaite, Max Horowitz, Andy Gilbert,
Jonas Herbsman, Linda Lorence, and Pat Rustici for the professional support.
A special shout out goes to my Kickstarter family that got
this whole thing started. I could not have done it without you.
Thanks to Steve Ridley, Peter Gontha and Stephanie Barada for
your special generosity and faith.
Thank you to my mom, brothers and sisters, close knit friends
and extended family in New York Voices for your constant
support. Heartfelt thanks to Paul Slifer, Amy Estrin, Don Frank,
Linda Kinhan, David Kinhan, Char Fitzpatrick, and Sarah Slifer
for your fine art creations for this project. And finally, thank you
to my husband Rob and daughter Ella for sharing this dream
with me everyday and making our life one big circle of love,
art and laughter.
CIRCLE IN A SQUARE
Music by Lauren Kinhan and Ada Rovatti
Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, have you heard
I’m gonna play a record on the Hi Fi
Analog, outta date, antiquate
The echo of a generation gone by
In the mind of one so young
You replay it, relive it
A circle in a square
Sacred rite, black as night, turn me on,
So I can be reminded of my first love
And sometimes there’s just another hill to climb
Just when the day is done
and the doubt begins to holler
And another chance to shine just slipped away
To my surprise, the pain is my sister
Giving my loneliness a harbor to escape,
to escape, I’ve got to let it go now, and get away
And in the morning I got nothin’ but a feeling
A condition that just won’t go away
To keep trying so hard, I gotta try so hard,
I gotta keep trying so hard
Hey Mr. Newton, Sir, put another nickel in the
juke box electric
It sings to me, plays to my very soul
Didn’t I hear you say, with every motion
there’s a counterpoint at play
It’s added ten years to my life just by turnin’ up
the volume louder
Hey Mr. Newton, Sir, put another nickel in the
juke box electric
The gravity’s pushing and pulling me higher and higher
Oh, While away
Its just another ordinary day
And sometimes there’s just another hill to climb
MY PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY
If all the questions asked were ever satisfied
And everyone could have a piece of cherry pie
Would the combat warrant what we sacrifice
Or could we shoulder our pride
Could we shoulder our pride
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
The day will come when the simple truth
will set your world on fire
Saying goodbye to what’s said and done
is all that I desire for you, it’s true
Close your eyes my painted lady butterfly
and dream, the forest for the trees
Light as a cloud, you are free to roam
the land (sea) and sky alone
Tattooed and wild kaleidoscope
returning nature’s call to let live and let live
Cuz to want for more is what you can’t deprive
the wonder, the thistle, the hunger
ANOTHER HILL TO CLIMB
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
How many million dreams are hanging in the balance
It’s a mystery we just can’t understand
Just tell me how to set my direction
Knowing that time is the condition we can’t change
we can’t change it, no matter how hard we try,
we can’t change
Seen through a looking glass,
the problems, they just get larger
Cuz the more I look, the more I realize
I try so hard, I try so hard, I just try too hard
Oh, While away
Its just an ordinary day
I’M LOOKIN’ FOR THAT NUMBER
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
I got a bone to pick, I got an itch to scratch
I’m feeling palpitations of a heart attack
I gotta tie that bonnet hard across my back
And shoulder my pride, and shoulder my pride
Because I’m fit to be tied of singing the blues
The cows in the meadow, and the man’s on the moon
The concept is simple, but concepts elude
If anybody knows where I’m growing old
I’m lookin for that number
Well if you said to stay or if you said to jump
And everybody had a case of monkey does
Would the slapback feel just like a hand in glove
Or could you shoulder your pride
Say could you shoulder it baby
Cuz there’s an omen in the point of no return
And there’s a beauty in the face of what’s absurd
But right now I stand before you bare and burned
And I can shoulder my pride, said I can shoulder
my pride
TO LIVE OR DIE
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
A Hobbit in a hole, an Alice up a tree
An imaginary hero fighting back the enemy
Where the lost boys play
with their psychosomatic schemes
So they’ll never be lonely … except for now
An accomplice to a crime, a suitcase on the ledge
An intoxicating stairway going nowhere in the end
Where the lost boys play with the melodramatic toys
So they’ll never be lonely…..except for now
So take these tears and hold me tight
So the pieces of my life can somehow explain
To live or die, I’m asking why
To live or die is worth fighting for
A handshake in the dark, no after to the fact
So you’re off to join the circus with those
monkeys on your back
Where the lost boys play
with their “I’m not afraid to die”
So they’ll never be sorry … Except for now
So take these tears and hold me close
So the fragments of my life can somehow explain
To live or die, I’m asking why
To live or die is worth fighting for
POCKETFUL OF HARLEM
Music by Lauren Kinhan and Andy Ezrin
Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Spoken like a man of means,
Pocketful of Harlem dreams
Kinks inside the armor, cool effecting his disarming
Of a certain Satin Doll,
as stubborn as the days were long
Hot, the humid weather,
melts the science she’s pretending
Time and again, somebody is going to hit their head
Losing the thread, It’s the same ole song
Dangerous and Debonair, call the Devil, he may care
No stranger to friction, an imposter for a living
Following a nightingale, enchanting the n’ere do well
No one saw it coming, his undoing by her charming
Time and again, somebody is going to hit their head
Losing the thread, It’s the same ole song
Dangerous and Debonair, call the Devil, he may care
No stranger to friction, an imposter for a living
Following a nightingale, enchanting the n’ere do well
No one saw it coming, his undoing by her charming self composure, and the
feeling that it’s over
WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE TODAY
no one hears your sneakers sneakin’
out that garden door
I used to think that anything could happen
A dreamer’s disillusion realized
Like falling up an escalator’s staircase
We’d measure every year in photographs
Who’s that sittin’ in my chair
What’s that cookin’ on the stove
You’ll regret your passing fancy
if you think the grass is grassy on the other side
But now the book is harder to remember
With every page I turn, I question how
How can anybody tell me what to write here
When words, like photographs, just can’t be found
Dig this, you made a mess a me and you,
so what cha waitin’ for
Seems like, there’s only liquor when the plot
gets thicker
Ask Miss Ridinghood
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
We’re not going anywhere today
We’re not having company at all
The laundry’s folded neatly near the alabaster wall
If anyone could find me,
they’d see no one’s home at all
The mirror doesn’t change our soft reflection
And how the lines are playing tricks on me
To years spent in the quiet
of the house we used to make
The answer to my question can’t un-say
That we’re not going anywhere today
Lock that honey in the pot
Hawk that apple that cha cored
Doncha be so high falutin’
when you’ve got no where to move in,
eat that humble pie
Straighten up the game is over, you regained your self composure,
nothin’ left to hide
Problem with the dalliances, guilty feet have got no chances left to compromise
Certainly you can’t be thinkin’ no one hears your sneakers sneakin’
Get that message through your head
CHAUSSURE’S COMPLEX
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Love Me, don’t let shoes stand in the way
of all this awkward romance
Unless it’s clear
You’d prefer another pair to wear, Pied a Terre
Just say you may, Trip the night away
Lead Me, of our own volition, no misgivings, chaussurre’s complex
When you’re hand in mine,
sends a tempo to my heel and toe
Before you know
The stockings hung from whence the shoe was flung
Stay, if you will
Remain perfectly still
Just to contrast the beat of my heart
Leave it at that, on the small of my back
Let loose to roam where it will
Hold Me, like a slipper’s fit,
we’ll contemplate the last temptation
On the heals of love,
We’ll incorporate the him, the her, the pas de deux
Before too long, we’ll have a fav’rite song
Rehearsing all our tomorrows from now on
BEAR WALK
Music by Jiro Yoshida, Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Who’s that sleepin’ in my bed
What’s that stocking on the floor
Certainly you can’t be thinkin’
VANITY’S PARAMOR
Music and Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Ten in one, you go out to a habitat
everyone there is anonymous
Preying on all the dark alley dances
to music you heard at the carnival
Haven’t you had enough of spinning that empty bottle?
Baby you can’t afford your addiction
is leading you only to posthumous
Don’t let the arms of Aphrodite push you around
with a pomegranate smile,
she leads you under ground
You got to hang on to reason,
while you walk the crooked mile
Side steppin’ the wrath of the Concubine
Fantasy over facing the music
is daring the walls to come down on you
Agony over taming the elephant
taking up space in your living room
When you go waking up,
you’ll see you’re in mighty quick sand
Saber and Cape in hand, you’re a Matador
looking for Vanity’s Paramour
Don’t let the arms of Aphrodite push you around
with a pomegranate smile,
she leads you under ground
You got to hang on to reason,
while you walk the crooked mile
Side steppin’ the wrath of the Concubine
Oh, down you go
Where it stops, ain’t nobody gonna know
You’re all foot loose, in your fancy feather bed
You just a blind sighted, bold submission
heavy on the sacreligion
B flat, bull fight, short stick, hell of a sacrifice
Oh, down you go
Where it stops, ain’t nobody gonna know
But you’re all foot loose, in your fancy feather bed
You just a blind sighted, bold submission
heavy on the sacreligion
every little thing’s so convoluted
an aphrodisiac infusion
B flat, bull fight, short stick hell of a sacrifice
THE DEEP WITHIN
Music by Lauren Kinhan and Peter Eldridge
Lyric by Lauren Kinhan
Tulips edge the cornerstone
Grass is growing green again
Sweater on my shoulders sit
Unfurling leaves on trees amidst
The spring showers will fall
Birds sing random haikus
Often heard across the lawn
Dandelions laugh at order
Promising a sea of gold
I don’t mind at all
No, the heart revives, it always does
The eyes will have their turtledove
It’s written in our porous skin
The sleeve that holds the deep within
Sundays I don’t go to church
One day trees will tell their tale
Apples fall to the seeker
Hand to mouth and fruit to cheek
As natural as the day
None the wiser for the taking
Nature holds us in suspense
Ages spent in solitary
Yield the human melancholy
Is this all there is?
No, the heart revives, it always does
The eyes will have their turtledove
It’s written in our porous skin
The sleeve that holds the deep within
1 CIRCLE IN A SQUARE 4:59
7 POCKETFUL OF HARLEM 4:44
2 MY PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY 4:56
8 WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE TODAY 5:05
3 ANOTHER HILL TO CLIMB 6:46
9 CHAUSSURE’S COMPLEX 5:52
4 CHASING THE SUN 5:18
10 BEAR WALK6:18
(L. KINHAN, A. ROVATTI)
Best of Kin, SESAC, Ada Rovatti SIAE
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
5 I’M LOOKIN’ FOR THAT NUMBER 5:26
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
6 TO LIVE OR DIE 4:51
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
(L. KINHAN, A. EZRIN)
Best of Kin, SESAC, Ez It Iz Music, ASCAP
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
(J. YOSHIDA, L. KINHAN)
Best of Kin, SESAC, Columbia Japan, Platonic Ltd.
11 VANITY’S PARAMOUR 4:50
(LAUREN KINHAN) Best of Kin, SESAC
12 THE DEEP WITHIN 4:49
(P. ELDRIDGE, L. KINHAN)
Best of Kin, SESAC, Rueben’s Tunes, ASCAP
pc2014 LAUREN KINHAN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORIZED DUPLICATION
IS A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE LAWS. www.laurenkinhan.com