Jesse Malin has been building and nurturing the music scene in the five boroughs for over forty years. He is essentially the New York Mayor of Rock and he makes friends wherever he goes. Through the decades he’s played countless benefit shows and spearheaded more than a few efforts to try and get help where it’s needed. He embodies the idea of community through music so naturally we’ve had a long and rewarding relationship with him at WFUV. Eighteen months ago, Malin suffered a rare spinal stroke that left him without the use of his legs. All the compassion and empathy that he has shown throughout his career is now coming back around in the form of a tremendous new tribute album and a pair of benefit shows coming up in December that will be his first time on stage since then.
It was an honor to visit Jesse in his East Village apartment and create a one-hour radio show to celebrate the new collection, preview the concerts – featuring full sets from him and his band – and get an update on his situation. It was a rare opportunity to have a freewheeling conversation that touched upon everything from spitting ketchup Gene Simmons style at a talent show in Whitestone to being at the Saturday Night Live performance of Fear to having Bruce Springsteen congratulate him on a good review in Rolling Stone to combing through lyrics at a kitchen table with Lucinda Williams. At the same time we got to play some of his great tunes and hear some of the marvelous new interpretations of his songs. Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin does what great tribute albums do: It’s a reminder of a lot of great songs and an introduction to a bunch of new versions of them. See you at the Beacon Theatre on December 1st and 2nd.
Jesse Malin radio show on 90.7 FM WFUV Broadcast 9-10p on 10/14/24
These links give you the whole show with music and conversation in two chunks –
OR cherry pick below…
Click link to hear song, Click play to hear each interview segment –
“Room 13” Jesse Malin 3:57 Sunset Kids 2019
“New York Comeback” Lucinda Williams 4:14 Stories from a R&R Heart 2023
“She Don’t Love Me Now” Bruce Springsteen 3:28 Silver Patron Saints 2024
“Queen of the Underworld” Jesse Malin 3:53 Fine Art of Self Destruction 2003
“Before You Go” Jesse Malin 3:46 Sad & Beautiful World 2021
“Brooklyn” Dinosaur Jr. 4:01 Silver Patron Saints 2024
“Sally Can’t Dance” Lou Reed 4:13 Sally Can’t Dance 1974
“Turn up the Mains” Mosshart Morello Gang 3:41 Silver Patron Saints 2024
uests at Beacon shows in December, Keep the PMA!
