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i n g r i d c h a v e z
‘a flutter and some words’
a biography
Blissfully solitary in a white room with ten windows overlooking the shifting seasons of New England landscapes and skyways, Ingrid Chavez has been weaving intimate words into dreamtime poetry and song. There was no intended outcome for these creations…no record company breathing down her neck to meet a “deadline.” Rather, these writings are a lifeline – a seamless thread of artful diary wiled into existence simply because this is what she does. Ingrid’s ideas, memories, musings, and visions always find their way from pen to paper, often accompanied by wistful melodies waiting to be breathed into life by the intimate Zen whisper of her voice. Now those pieces are ready to be shared as A Flutter and Some Words – 14 spellbinding glimpses into the soul of a uniquely gifted woman.
A Flutter and Some Words is an elegant confessional about spiritual completeness and bonds, about relationships and romance, and about profound moments of ecstasy and sorrow. The CD captures the rebirth of a woman and artist rediscovered in an organic evolution with a perfect stranger. The initially abstract music of Lorenzo Scopelliti (a.k.a. Saffron Wood) and the ethereal sound sculpting of producer and engineer Alessandro Mazzitelli sent Ingrid’s imagination on a journey of introspection, reflection and daydreaming. She reminisces on a road trip across the flatlands and mountains of America en route to her family’s inaugural
encounter with their spiritual teacher Ammachi on the spoken piece “The First Darshan (Song for Ameera).”
She muses upon the blush of new love on “Mine” and “A Flutter and Some Words” (her one outside collaboration with former Skyfish band mate Richard Werbowenko), and of a sensual baptism in “By the Water.” She also paints shamelessly naked portraits of herself in “Back Roads” and “Terrible Woman”. And she shares about the blessing of a man and a woman finding a way to fall apart gracefully in the bittersweet “No Goodbyes.”
In the short time that the Albuquerque - native floated along the perimeter of “Tinseltown,” Ingrid’s singular artistry penetrated the rare-aired realms of a few choice multi- platinum superstars. While living in Minneapolis in the late `80s, Ingrid became a lyrical muse for pop icon Prince, a real life role captured on selections from his CD Lovesexy (1988) and on celluloid in his modern times musical Graffiti Bridge (1990) via her Spirit Child character named “Aura.” Poems that she and Prince turned into genre-defying sonic-scapes became the basis of her debut album May 19, 1992 released on Paisley Park/Warner Bros, featuring the singles/videos “Elephant Box,” “Hippy Blood,” and the dance floor gem “Heaven Must Be Near.” In addition, while in the studio with Lenny Kravitz, Ingrid spontaneously transformed a letter into a lyric that became the erotic club land classic
“Justify My Love” (1990), a corner-turning milestone in the career of Madonna.
Mired in a world of ego, politics and paperwork, the dealings instigated a slow inward retreat for Ingrid. But not before she was featured on two songs from Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 1991 album, Heartbeat, which the composer collaborated on with singer-songwriter David Sylvian. The British artist became Ingrid’s husband and father of her daughters Isobel and Ameera. Ingrid and her family (including her son Tinondre) settled in the Midwest where Ingrid submerged into motherhood, channeling her creativity into taking care of her family.
But a writer never ceases writing, and Ingrid harbored notions of continuing to make music, beyond the handful of songs such as “Starred and Dreaming” and “Remembering Julia” written in collaboration with David and released as b-sides of his singles. Sadly, twelve years of marriage came to an amicable yet devastating end. It was during this soul-searching period – a time when her sacred creative space was returned to her – that Ingrid rekindled in earnest her mystical melding of music and poetry.
In the beginning, it was a solitary process. Then a knock arrived all the way from Italy via Lorenzo Scopelliti.
He had composed a haunting instrumental inspired by her which he titled “Song for Ingrid” and forwarded it to her as a gift. Ingrid had been sent scores of music by talented producers, DJs and songwriters hoping to collaborate with her. Yet Lorenzo’s beautifully borderless offering - with no strings attached - was the first to, in turn, inspire her, striking a chord deep within. She turned “Song for Ingrid” into “Isobel,” a meditation on her daughter. Late one night, obliging Isobel’s plea to let her slumber by her side, Ingrid listened to Lorenzo’s piece in her headphones and conjured a song.
“That music and my experience with Isobel became one in that moment,” Ingrid shares. “All of the words came to me as she slept. The next day I wrote them out, recorded a vocal and sent it to Lorenzo. That was the beginning. The song isn’t meant to be deciphered or make sense. ‘Isobel’ simply captures that moment in time.” A seed was planted and an artful kinship begun.
Over two winters, two springs, two summers and one autumn, Lorenzo came to visit Ingrid and she flew to
Italy to record – three trips of four to five songs each. However, the greater sum of their collaboration was
accomplished Trans-Atlantic over the Internet. Each artist worked best in their own space. With no commercial
consideration to “make an album,” Ingrid and Lorenzo challenged and appreciated each other. Both unschooled creators, they composed on an even playing field of intuition and invention – he sending her music, she selecting bits she could work with and structuring them into song forms of her shaping – some conventional, others less so. It wasn’t always easy. There were language barriers, time zone issues, and
Lorenzo’s densely abstract musical concepts were often at odds with Ingrid’s airier aural environs. In the end,
she would have had it no other way.
Ingrid knew that their work was done when she finished what became the opening piece of the album, “Wing of a Bird” - an excerpt of a poem by Arseny Tarkovsky, father of her favorite film director Andrei Tarkovsky that they set to music. “That was the last song we completed,” she says. “We captured creaky antique music boxes…the gears sputtering to life. I wound up abbreviating the poem and instinctively felt I’d found the entryway to my album. I’d always known that ‘Isobel’ would be the closing song. With more than enough in between, everything felt right. The story had been told.”
Culling her deepest inspiration from photography, movies and nature, it was only fitting that Lorenzo create an evocative short film that illuminates Ingrid’s creative environment and process. Never having the opportunity to
perform the music from her debut album, so she intends for live presentation and musical web-casts to play a strong role in sharing her work: old and new. She hopes the passion that went into these pieces is an inspiration to all artists of unique vision, particularly women in search of outlets for artistic expression.
“It has been a long time since my first project,” Ingrid concludes, “but this album could not have come before
now. It’s been quite a journey. The music is different but the experience of entering my world for a little while is the same. Because this album was written over a two-year period, one gets a real sense of time and of seasons coming and going. And each song is a slice of my life: the promise of love, memory, disappointment, love lost, and motherhood, the biggest part of who I am outside of my music.”
“Little Mama’ lives on.”
A. Scott Galloway
(May 2009)
‘a flutter and some words’ |
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