|
|
|
Jesse Palidofsky
Food for the Long Haul
ACCD 0402
|
|
Contact:
7901 Holstein Street
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-565-2777
www.jessepal.com
|
|
Jesse
Palidofsky
If the scope of Jesse
Palidofsky’s songwriting palette is a bit out of the ordinary, both on the
musical and lyrical fronts, there is good reason. Growing up in the 1960's
in Detroit as the 7th of 17 children, having a great uncle who was part of
the historic United Auto Workers picket line at the Ford Rouge plant, and
hitch-hiking 30,000 miles exploring North America in his late teens and early
20's, all undoubtedly contribute
to his unique perspective on life. Jesse has shared his music at venues as
varied as the National Theatre's Monday Night Series, the Washington Folk
Festival, and on Pete Seeger's Hudson River sloop Clearwater, as well
as at peace rallies, with hospice patients and in maximum security prisons.
Jesse has also performed on keyboards with the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage
Foundation at the Smithsonian National Folklife Festival and at the Kennedy
Center Open House. He has received numerous Visiting Artist grants from the
Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County for work with multi-cultural
audiences. His new CD of original compositions, Food For the Long Haul,
explores the dance between the political and the personal, the sacred
and the earthy, the sublime and the ridiculous. The title cut is included
on FOCUS's Capital Acoustics CD, a compilation disc of Washington,
DC area songwriters.
Jesse accompanies his soulful vocals with guitar, piano and bluesy harmonica,
and keeps his audiences involved with singalong choruses and engaging stories
that can be as compelling as the songs themselves. From his heartwarming ode
to reaching the big 4-0, "Another Turn of the Cycle," to the social commentary
of “Study War No More: 2004," to the over-the-top hilarity of "Personal Growth
Blues," Jesse's music is definitely food for the hungry heart!
"Jesse played his just-written song, 'I’ve Got the Swannanoa Sleep Deprivation
Blues', which brought the house (at Be Here Now, Asheville, NC) to its feet
with cheers and applause."
Robert Caldwell, Performing Songwriter
Magazine
"I expected the Jesse Palidofsky Group would be good, but I didn't know
they would be THAT great!"
Lisa Null, co-chair, Washington Folk
Festival Program Committee
====================================================
|
|
Track
7 3:41
Ballad of Sammie Abbott Jesse Palidofsky
Track 19 4:25
I Need
Mercy (A Million Times A Day) Jesse Palidofsky
lyrics--click
here
BALLAD OF SAMMIE
ABBOTT
Written for the 25th
anniversary of the Takoma Park (MD) Folk Festival, which was founded by the
late Sammie Abbott. With special appreciation to the late Lenore Robinson,
for all of her dedicated work on the festival over the years, and for introducing
me to Sammie Abbott's story.
My people were from Syria, they settled in NY state
I was born in Ithaca in nineteen hundred and eight
A true American born and bred
I always believed what the headlines said
My name is Sammie Abbott, come listen to my tale
I won honors at Cornell, an architect-to-be
But when FDR closed the banks--something awoke in me
I left school to save my soul
And organized for the C.I.O.
Sold my watercolors to earn my bed and feed
Come 19 and 40 I settled in DC
In the bricklayers' union I found solidarity
When Hitler set the world ablaze
I flew bombers for the USA
Earned five commendations and the Bronze Star for bravery
Even as a war hero, I still worked day and night
Organized to "Ban the Bomb" and for black people's rights
But those McCarthy years were mean
They smeared true patriots to make you scream
The blacklist stole my livelihood but I never quit the fight
I opposed Korea, Vietnam was a fiasco
If the Big Boys built their freeway our own town would be bulldozed
I stood up, but not alone
"No white folks' roads thru black
folks' homes"
Brought rich and poor together, and helped create the METRO
I finally became mayor when Reagan came to town
I was 72 years old but I stared the doubters down
Saved the schools, brought rent
control
"Sanctuary" and the nuclear free
zone
Being faithful where you live can turn the whole world 'round
Some people called me "angry", some people called me "red"
Mostly guys in Cadillacs who look way overfed
I don't care if you think I'm mean
It's that "trickle down" that's so obscene
I'll always fight injustice, that's my life and testament
©2004 Jesse Palidofsky
Musicians:
Jesse Palidofsky:
vocals, guitar
Marco Delmar: bass
Ekendra Dos: percussion
Fred Lieder: cello
Produced by Marco Delmar: Recording Arts Studio
I
NEED MERCY (A MILLION TIMES A DAY)
The main character of this song careens between the brash self-assurance
of the Nikki Giovanni poem Ego Tripping, and the bumbling foolishness
of the main character in Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run.
Circled the globe in my hot air balloon
Recovered six million Spanish doubloons
Phi Beta Kappa & I was just skimming
Won Olympic gold in synchronized swimming
Opened on Broadway to wild acclaim
In the World Series tossed a perfect game
Left J-Lo at the altar high and dry
Parliaments fall at the wink of my eye
But every mornin' when I wake
First thing I see is these same ol' feet of clay
You know, I need mercy a million times a day
Orbited Mars in my private rocket
Survive in the wild better 'n Davy Crockett
Engaged by the Louvre to raise their aesthetic
One on one made Michael Jordan look pathetic
Bounced from Jeopardy--knew every answer
Discovered vaccine to wipe out cancer
By landslide elected commander-in-chief
Even got McDonald's to stop serving beef
But after all the accolades
Come home and slip off my toupee
You know I need mercy a million times a day
Some find me temperamental
Can be mushy & wax sentimental
But if "90% of winning is 3/4
mental"
As Yogi Berra would say
Lord, I need a whole lotta mercy
Won't you hear me when I pray
Taught Betty Crocker to bake cherry pies
In my spare time won the Nobel Peace Prize
Left Cal Ripken's mark in the dust
They even want the buck to say "In Jesse We Trust"
But tired and wired at 4 am
In my clueless insomniac haze
You know I need mercy
From now 'til doomsday
Lord, I need mercy a million times a day
©2004 Jesse Palidofsky
Musicians:
Jesse Palidofsky: piano & vocals
Jon Nazdin: bass
David Lopez: drums
Jonah Blaustein: soprano
sax
Paul Oorts: banjo
Tia Ade: backing vocals
Produced by Marco Delmar, Recording Arts Studio
|
|
