We had a marvelous time playing last month at Molly Malone’s and the audience was full of praises too which is always very satisfying! Like the following tweet expresses: @MollyMalones listening to the beautiful and talented @FrancesLivings and band. A politics break! pic.twitter.com/r9jLLLhVEm — Sharlette Hambrick (@SharletteH) February 3, 2016 So to make sure […]
Zane Musa – the first time I saw him play was at a small, hole in the wall jazz joint. It was the summer of 2005 and I was on one of my first visits to Los Angeles from Germany, where the guitarist Greg Porée and I had met working at a small theatre in […]
I have always loved French chansons which definitely derives from my strong affinity with the French culture – and I am not only referring to the delicious food. I was thrilled to start learning French at middle school and very excited about being able to count to ten, say bonjour, merci, oui and non after […]
It was just one of these mornings. Lying there in bed, I felt as if my life was washing over me like a big grey wave, the murky waters were draining off, revealing bit of useless debris. My music and my writing, appeared like mere fragments; ideas lied scattered everywhere; unfinished poems, unsold CDs, unwritten essays. And ideas were just […]
Frances Livings’ Ipanema Lounge I am very excited to announce that we have almost finished recording a new 12-song world jazz album called “Ipanema Lounge”. The songs range from dramatic and emotional, melancholic, to up-tempo, fun and groovy. Atmospherically, the recordings create a blend of Southern European sounding music and Latin jazz – I have not only sung […]
When a couple of weeks ago, I was asked to pick a children’s piece to record as a segment for a voice-over demo, a cute little poem came to mind – something with sneezing. Via Dr. Google it was quickly retrieved on the internet. Here are the first lines: Christopher Robin Had wheezles And sneezles, They […]
I had first come across the sonnet Midnight Sun a few years ago. It was around the time of the first studio recording of my song Mr. Moon, a jazz tune, which is centred around the various characteristics of the moon with its magical and comforting but also seductive elements. I had been singing it […]
Rapid technological development has led to a constant flood of visual and acoustic bits and bites – emails, text messages and Facebook updates. For most of us it has become a habit to react, one that often leaves us frazzled and detached. Single-tasking has become a luxury in the 21st century. To sit down and […]
It’s true. Most transplants here in Los Angeles are quite obsessed with detecting and pointing out how different things are. I belong to them. One of the things that struck me immediately on my first visit to L.A. in 2006 was fashion – rather, the lack thereof. Despite fashion apparel being L.A.’s third biggest industry, […]
I wrote the ballad Please Close Your Eyes, after a love affair ended. I knew that it would, one day – that I would walk away because that’s what lies frequently in the nature of a relationship with a lover. But I also knew that in the end, it would hurt. That’s when I wrote the […]
