Singing, Signing, and Storytelling: Record Release Party for Joanie Pallatto Brings Many to the Mill
Seen here, left to right, are Clare Johnson, Joanie Pallatto, and Fareed Haque, performing at the record release party for Accidental Melody.
Your Prime Directives for digging this wanna-be dissertation are…
First: Hire a distinguished dude – facial features framed with a gray top and perfectly pruned, professorial ‘stache and ‘tee – to lay it all the way down on classical guitar. Have him seated next to you, stage right.
Then, while you – standing, center stage -- sing an original song, witness the wonder in the audience’s eyes as a sign language singer – standing, stage left – signs along, even when you scat this:
Day-do/day-do/day! Fo fo fo fo fo fo! Bee bee bee bee bee! (Skis!)
Seriously simple, eh?
Well, Joanie Pallatto accomplished all this like a bossette during her album release party held June 11th for Accidental Melody (Southport Records), featuring guitarist and producer Fareed Haque.
Accompanied by Haque – with cameo appearances by sign language singer Clare Johnson and pianist Bradley Parker-Sparrow – Pallatto presented her compositions, both new and vintage, at the Green Mill, 4802 North Broadway.
When discussing the title track, Pallatto revealed what so many listeners have asked: “How do you come up with these songs? Are they deep inside your soul? Where do they come from?” she said, before revealing pianist Eddie Palmieri as the composition’s catalyst.
While creating material for this album, Pallatto said later during a one-on-one conversation, she realized that salsa had never entered her repertoire. After brainstorming at the piano, she then watched videos by Palmieri – whose music she called “really intoxicating” – for that extra push.
“I started hearing that rhythmic riff,” (singing now), “ ‘Da da da da daaaaaaa!’ He was playing that a lot, and I thought, ‘That gives me a good basis to start this song,’” the Ohio-born artist recalled. “Then, Sparrow had written lyrics for a different song, ‘She put her best dress on,’ and I thought, ‘Wow! There’s my bridge!’”
Before recording this song with Haque, bassist John Christensen, drummer Eric Hines, and cajonero Juan Pastor, Pallatto heard a salse-esque song sans piano, but Haque envisioned differently and suggested a new rhythmic approach.
“Fareed’s always got such great ideas. He discusses things I’ve never even thought about, so we changed it up,” Pallatto said about Haque, who also performed two solo selections at the event. “We changed the accent on the rhythm. We did,” (singing one more once!) “ ‘Da da da da da daaaaaa! And then, ‘Da da da da daaaaaaa!’”
(Y’all got that?)
This composition earned title track honors, she continued, because it is fun and causes listeners to question its meaning. Also, on the album’s cover, Pallatto is seen seated at a piano, contemplating chords and lyrics.
“Some people did mention that the photo could be confusing, because it might be interpreted that I’m playing piano,” Pallatto said. “But I just liked the photo and thought it was a strong picture of me as a composer and songwriter.
“And,” she added, “I’ve been doing this long enough that I’m allowed to do whatever I want, don’t ya think?”
For “The Lost Year,” (which you scatted on so hiply before ), Pallatto rejuvenated her 40-year friendship with Clare Johnson. The two were first connected by the late bassist John Magnan, who played in Foxfire, a rock band. Johnson joined Magnan’s group as the “sign singer” and performed numerous concerts for deaf people, and with Pallatto and Sparrow at Chicago Fest and other outdoor happenings.
“Family/friends are here/travelling/brings us near/wondering/what’s to be/we’ll never forget/The Lost Year,” this song about the pandemic begins. Then, while being serenaded with applause when the song ended, Pallatto said, “I think we just reached a new frontier. Clare leaned into me, (giggled), and said, ‘Scat signing!’”
Collaborating with Clare, she added, brings a new perspective to the music.
“When I’m on stage, I like to think pictures in the air and depict my emotions,” Pallatto said. “To have Clare there, literally interpreting lyrics through sign language, was such a magical thing. It brought a special moment to the show, and I think the audience dug it, too.”
(By the way, a video from this event, where Pallatto, Johnson, and Haque perform “As You Spend Your Life,” is now available on youtube.com.)
Transitioning from vocals and rhythm section in a studio, to voice and guitar “live,” required fresh ears and vision from artist and producer.
“When we had rehearsal,” Pallatto recalled, “I remember Fareed saying, ‘I’m going to have to approach this in a completely different way and make different arrangements.’ And I said, ‘That’s what I’m counting on you to do.’ And he did such a beautiful job of reimagining these songs.”
After Pallatto and Sparrow performed “The Melody of You” – from the pianist’s album Float Out to Sea – memories about how a termination in 1980 led to their active, 40-plus-year marriage were shared.
“My singer developed a crush on Muhammad Ali, and in the beginning of every song, she would say, ‘Ali! I love you! I love you, Muhammad!” Sparrow recalled about a band he once led. “She was a great singer, but she turned every song into the Muhammad Ali song!”
When Sparrow and Pallatto first met at a “No Nukes” benefit, he got her number and then explained that his band had a vacancy.
“I’m so glad Sparrow found me as the new singer, or I never would have had this history with him,” said Pallatto, who owns and operates Southport Records with Sparrow. “I didn’t know a lot about Muhammad Ali, which was a good thing for Sparrow. I don’t think he would have wanted to hear it.
