Notes from the Parlour...
December 2004


"...a gleefully unhinged evening. Thrillpeddlers bring ghoulish aplomb to Grand Guignol...Jill Tracy is luminous." SF Bay Guardian

"The Jill Tracy Experience. Not just fit for musicians or music buffs, she also consistently receives praise from film and theater directors, fine artists and authors. What they all have in common is an appreciation for her desire to keep, in her words, 'dark history alive.' " PERFORMER Magazine


Needless to say, I was champing at the bit when director and Thrillpeddlers founder Russell Blackwood wanted to create a Grand Guignol theatre event with me as leading lady! He had admired my music and storytelling for some time, and envisioned transforming me into the likes of the legendary Paula Maxa, queen of the infamous Paris shockstage. I've been intrigued and inspired by the lore of the Grand Guignol since I was a child. Russell and his colleagues (including author/historian Mel Gordon) are the nation's leading authorities on the subject. Most works from the period remained unheard of in the US. Few have ever been translated into English! There is some fascinating information on their website-please visit! Although known primarily for its terror plays, the Grand Guignol was the vanguard of "naturalist" theatre of the time period, making quite controversial socio/political/sexual commentary. You might have seen a real-life criminal, priest or prostitute onstage portraying themselves! Watching these plays is akin to opening a time capsule...

Russ painstakingly searched for Charles Mere’s 1928 L’homme nu (The Beast) to feature me at the helm of an ornate nineteenth-century pedal reed organ, as the beautiful and tortured “Countess Edwige.” She remains imprisoned, playing her mournful music. (Type casting?) I am teaching myself to play this gorgeous instrument! I've fallen in love with the full-body-execution of getting sound out of the monstrous thing. It's quite sensual. You must pump your feet continuously and achieve volume by pressing your knees sideways to open the bellows. All at the same time- there are multiple registers and drawbars, combining and coupling sounds and keys. An astonishing creation for 1870! It's the most powerful feeling to perform and compose on it. I'm already planning to incorporate it into my next album!

I hope you can come to see Thrillpeddlers' Welcome to the Hypnodrome. The show has been extended through December 18 in San Francisco.Visit the official website to learn more about this amazing collaboration and to purchase tickets online. Tickets are selling fast! Get yours today...we're a bonafide hit!

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Limelight Books on Market Street, you'll see quite an artful and eerie store window display--entirely devoted to Welcome to the Hypnodrome! Thanks Joel. And to our visual master- Donovan Thompson!

Thank you to Sasha Soren for a wonderful in depth interview with yours truly in the Sept 2004 issue of Arte Six. and Sherry Sly for a spotlight in the Nov 2004 isuue of Performer magazine.
Please subscribe to the Jill Tracy email list to get updates and info on all my adventures: thelist@jilltracy.com

The Fine Art of Poisoning, the animated music video created with director Bill Domonkos, (from my CD Diabolical Streak) has now won prestigious awards and nominations at over 30 film festivals throughout the country. Clive Barker stated " Bill Domonkos and Jill Tracy have created a haunted netherworld that is both seductive and terrifying."

The Fine Art of Poisoning has been chosen to be released on THREE Best Short Films of the Year DVD collections: Chicago International Animation Festival (Cineme), New York City Horror Film Festival, and Colorado Film Foundation.
Click on the links to purchase online. The film is still making the festival rounds nationally and internationally. Look for it in your area, as well as the short film Heavy Put Away, directed by Joel Plotch. I appear as the dangerous chanteuse onstage at the infamous Ambassador Hotel Lounge in LA. I also performed the filmscore, alongside composer Fletcher Beasley.

There has been a renewed surge of interest in my 2002 CD Into the Land of Phantoms, my original film score (with The Malcontent Orchestra) to F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent vampire classic Nosferatu. Musical selections from the work, as well as from Diabolical Streak, were prominently featured on the nationally syndicated public radio show Hearts of Space in early November 2004. Orders have been pouring in (gushing?--bad blood reference--) from all over the country. Both Into the Land of Phantoms and Diabolical Streak can be purchased through CD Baby. You may also retrieve the archive of the show on the Hearts of Space website, program #711, entitled Netherworld. (I believe the show was named in my honor!) It was lovely to hear my work seamlessly segued with the likes of Alejandro Amenabar's score to The Others. It's a gorgeous hour of darkly poetic music. Thank you to Steve Davis and Stephen Hill for mastering the mood.

There are some exciting events in January. They include legendary punk goddess Nina Hagen, the aftermath of Mr. Edward Gorey. and The Fine Art of Poisoning returns to LA. Check the Calendar for details. All the best to you in the New Year.


Jill Tracy

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