Book of Silk (album)

Book of Silk is the fourth album of Tin Hat Trio. It is a modern chamber music work, encompassing jazz in the Django and Grappelli vein with a haunting, acoustic soundscape that might have served as a film score.

Book of Silk
Studio album by Tin Hat Trio
Released	August 10, 2004 (2004-08-10)
Genre	Chamber music jazz
Length	52:03
Label	Ropeadope Rykodisc
Producer	Hans Wendl Tin Hat Trio
Tin Hat Trio chronology
The Rodeo Eroded (2002) Book of Silk (2004) La giusta distanza (The Right Distance) (2007)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	(positive) [1]
AllMusic	[2]
BBC	(positive) [3]
Pitchfork	7.8/10 [4]
PopMatters	{positive} [5]

Reviews were uniformly positive, with critics noting the more introspective and entirely instrumental turn, save for the closing lullaby. That final track, with lyrics by Mike Coykendall, was a response to the death of guitarist Mark Orton's wife Lauren in a rafting accident.^[6]

Track listing

1. "The Longest Night" – 3:54 (Orton)
2. "The Clandestine Adventures of Ms. Merz" – 2:20 (Burger)
3. "Compay" – 4:52 (Kihlstedt)
4. "Invisible Mobile " – 4:45 (Orton)
5. "March of the Smallest Feet" (Kihlstedt) – 3:58 (Kihlstedt)
6. "Hotel Aurora" – 3:38 (Orton)
7. "Osborne Avenue" – 3:34 (Burger)
8. "Elliott Carter Family" – 3:52 (Parkins / Tin Hat Trio)
9. "Things That Might Have Been" – 4:26 (Burger)
10. "Red Hook Stoop" – 4:48 (Burger)
11. "Same Shirt, Different Day" – 1:55 (Burger)
12. "Pablo Looks Back" – 1:09 (Kihlstedt)
13. "Light Black from Pole to Pole" – 2:49 (Kihlstedt)
14. "Lauren's Lullaby" – 4:12 (Orton)
15. "Empire of Light" – 2:59 (Orton / Coykedndall [sic], arr. Orton)

Personnel

• Mark Orton – guitar, banjo, dobro
• Carla Kihlstedt – violin, viola, voice
• Rob Burger – accordion, piano, prepared piano, toy piano, field organ, celeste
• Bryan Smith – tuba, euphonium
• Zeena Parkins – harp

Song use

"March of the Smallest Feet" appeared on the documentary A Fierce Green Fire (2012).^[7]

"The Longest Night" was used as the background music for the flash game Tri-Achnid by Edmund McMillen.^[8]

References

1. Gottschalk, Kurt (2 Oct 2004). "Tin Hat Trio: Book of Silk". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
2. Johnson, Zac. "Book of Silk". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
3. Marsh, Peter (2004). "Tin Hat Trio Book of Silk Review". BBC Music. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
4. Zwickel, Jonathan. "Tin Hat Trio Book of Silk". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
5. Cibula, Matt (11 Nov 2004). "Tin Hat Trio: Book of Silk". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
6. Richardson, Derk (May 2005). "Foreign Cinema" (PDF). Acoustic Guitar. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
7. "A Fierce Green Fire Soundtrack (2012) OST". Ringostrack. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
8. "Tri-achnid". Newgrounds. Retrieved 29 March 2023.