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Portraits Drawn Without You

by Alexander Dubovoy

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1.
Ezhov 05:53
Your portraits are drawn without you Yellowed without your age All will go on about you Others take up your stage The staging of others' lives The signing of others' crimes What can you do but walk away and let it fall apart? This logic had consumed you from the start Your image fades The writing's on the wall and in your pen Confess it all again Stop thinking that your secret's safe with those you called a friend We've talked to them and know it's at an end Your portrait falls It's easier to give up now than stall Confess it all again Just sign this form and let your mem'ries drift away and die The truth is just in some beholder's eye Your image fades The writing's on the wall and in your pen Confess it all again Your portraits are drawn without you Gray with disgrace
2.
Turn off your phone I’ll be your landline for a while Call the people who left you here And all the things You knew had needed saying They’re already floating in the wind Leave a voicemail greeting There’s no more to say They can’t disturb you anymore You’re here; you’ll stay Give me your hand And let your cord unwind There’s nobody knocking at your door They’re not there anymore
3.
Huitlacoche 06:07
4.
Let yourself go There was nothing to begin And not end Before you know You're off to bed And the figure of a past life haunts you The less you like yourself Before you go Take a while to settle in At least till then When the silence of a drowned song Holds you; never lets you go Defines you It all goes to show The less you like yourself The more of you there is
5.
6.
Mortgage all your dreams They'll interest you for years Don't let any go Keep them all right here Do not as I do But as I say and: Take the money And run a hedge fund Know I value you According to the price And I'll never be Like all those other guys I won't fall in love I'll kiss you and I'll: Take the money And run a hedge fund Remembering the years gone by I've no regrets And all those things for which we fight Are what we get The system must be good If it was fair to me So then I'll: Take the money And run a hedge fund Stocks are soaring high Don't worry when they burst  Nights are flying by But sleeping is the worst Hurry up and buy Or sell me but I'll: Take the money And run a hedge fund Simple always wins When Florida begins And I'll always bet On your derivative Never know how much You have until you: Take the money And run a hedge fund
7.
Other Ways 04:05
You didn’t remember me but you listened The notes off the page glistened beneath your fingertips The power your hands once had has grown old And I’ve ceased to hear the stories you told me young And when you were my age What did you think you’d do? What were the other ways That called you, but you’ll never see them through? The warm light has fogged your old reminiscence And years ago did you know it would come to this? And when you were my age What did you think you’d do? What were the other ways That called you, but you’ll never see them through?
8.
Lite Butter 03:55

about

"Your portraits are drawn without you/yellowed without your age"

Portraits Drawn Without You is a set of original compositions that I wrote for piano and voice during the past year. It draws from a diverse range of idioms, perhaps as much from Joni Mitchell and John Cage as from Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Even larger is the number of people who inspired moments in each work. It seems oddly apt to honor them with my first solo project. People I have known at various points in my life float in and out of the compositions freely. Each piece is a sort of musical portrait, an act of representation in which the true subject is conspicuously absent. The end effect, I hope, is like that of walking through the halls of a portrait gallery: You know that the figures on the walls know each other, but it is up to you to figure out the story of how.

"Let yourself go/there was nothing to begin/and not an end"

These songs are dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Babi Quetín. She always made sure I had a head on my shoulders and a piano under my fingers. This portrait, too, must be drawn without her.

"The warm light has fogged your old reminiscence/Years ago, did you know it would come to this?"

I wrote most of the compositions in either my old home in the San Francisco Bay Area or my new home in New Haven. I recorded them, however, during a frenzied April weekend on the Rhode Island coast in the living room of Jack Renner. Jack is the founder of Telarc Records and an 11-time Grammy-winner. I am hugely grateful for his mentorship. I am also deeply indebted to his wife Barbara for trusting me to not destroy her unbelievable piano. I hope that something of that weekend spent looking out at the ocean comes across to you.

credits

released September 9, 2016

Alexander Dubovoy – Piano/Voice/Composer
Jack Renner – Recording Engineer
Barbara Renner – Piano Technician
Hans Bilger – Post-Production
Annelisa Leinbach – Artwork

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Alexander Dubovoy California

Jazz singer/pianist and songwriter from the San Francisco Bay Area

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