Today’s song was written by the very gifted team of Marcy Heisler (lyrics) and Zina Goldrich (music).
They are a well-known songwriting team based in New York City, and they have crafted a bunch of stand-alone songs — along with entire musicals — which are beloved by performers.
A few of their NYC-area hits include “I Like Them (Bald),” “Alto’s Lament,” and “Taylor, The Latte Boy.”
Jinny Sagorin and I recorded their song “There’s Nothing I Wouldn’t Do” with pianist Doug Hammer a few years ago.
Originally from South Africa, Jinny has lived in the Boston area for the past two decades.
You can check out her website by clicking here if you are curious.
In recent years Jinny has expanded beyond musical theater and cabaret to becoming a cantor.
We both share a sense that music can be very sacred (as well as silly, sexy, heartfelt, and open-minded).
And performing in a synagogue, library, church or retirement community can be just as satisfying as performing in a bar or club — although we have both done plenty of that, too!
I first met Jinny when I was co-hosting an open mic at The Cambridge Center For Adult Education in Harvard Square (where I also was employed as an events manager and PR person).
Eventually we put together an entire program of songs called LIFE MATTERS.
Jinny also invited me to perform as a special guest when she debuted her solo CD, IT’S FOR YOU, to a sold-out crowd at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston.
And she has performed many of my original songs when I have done showcases of my own work.
In addition to being a performing artist, Jinny is also a visual artist.
Here’s an example of a work of art she created for an annual show called ART/Word in which she is a regular participant.
Thank you to Marcy and Zina for writing this song.
Thank you to Jinny and Doug for recording it with me.
Thank you to Stephen C. Fischer a.k.a DigitalFisch for designing the graphic to accompany it.
Thank you to Dr. Jeremy Schmahmann for taking the photo of me, Jinny and Doug.
And thank YOU for reading this blog post!
PS: If you feel like streaming this song on your favorite digital music platform, please click here for links.
PPS: I haven’t mentioned the current challenges here on planet earth (wars, heat waves, forest fires, floods, spreading diseases, rising costs, lack of food/fertilizer/fuel, political upheaval, etc.) in recent blog posts.
But I remain vividly aware of them.
And I continue to find inspiration and hope from the courageous candidates and hard-working GOTV (get out the vote) organizations at work around the USA.
As you are probably well aware, there are a bunch of very inspiring human beings stepping up at the local, state and national levels these days.
Let’s support them — with tiny donations of time and/or money— as much as we are able.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
amusicalifeonplanetearth 
Hi Will,
It has been a long time since I visited your blog & so lovely to see your uplifting post.
Sorry to hear of your broken elbow & wish you a speedy recovery.
The song is lovely & I really love the sunflower pic & associated rhyme.
Take care
Margaret 🌅😊🌻
Thanks for a return visit, Margaret! I hope all is well with you! Jinny’s art work is as golden as her singing. And she also shines as a cantor. This is probably her busiest time of year with High Holy days arriving soon…
A delightful duet, Will. Your voices go together well. This is a lovely feature on Jinny. It’s wonderful how you support your friends and colleagues. I like her sunflower picture, and the photos. Not sure if the broken elbow is recent or not (yikes, that sounds painful!), but I hope it’s healing well or healed.
As for all the rest . . .yes, we all must do what we can. xx
Thank you for making time to listen and read and comment!!!! I love singing with Jinny — and I love collaborating in general. And then you add Doug into the mix… and magic often happens. My broken elbow is historic (ten years ago or so…) but it was a a long haul to heal. A very small person in one of my Music Together classes got behind me when I was pulling out a big plastic bin of rhythm instruments (which happens at the peak of each class so that we can all savor a play-along.) I did not know that the very enthusiastic Axel was behind me, and I tripped over him. Then I twisted my body in an awkward fashion so that I wouldn’t fall on top of him and landed with a crash on my left elbow (but not on Axel!) I immediately went into denial and contimnued teaching that calss and I think one that followed it. Some empathetic and concerned parents filled an unused diaper with snow (from outside) and I wore that on my arm until I got home and decided to go to an ER. Our local hospital’s ER looked it over (and maybe did an xray or someother sort of scan?) and told me they knew exactly the right person who would love to deal with it — the head of ortho arm surgeries at Tufts Hospital. Dr. Chuck Cassidy turned out to be a peach, and he operated not once but twice on it to see if he could re-construct that elbow joint and restore full mobility. We never got it to straighten out perfectly, but it has been fully functional since I recovered from the second surgery (and did a lot of painful therapy afterwards). I learned about the extraordinary power of opiates during my recovery from both surgeries — how they relieve physical pain AND also how they relieve mental pain. Everything just melted into a warm zone of comfort after I took one of my pain pills. It gave me great empathy for folks who become addicted to opiates. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Jinny’s artwork is usually joyous and colorful and uplifting. She loves oranges and yellow and reds (and blues and green, too). As for the rest… Let’s see what each of us can do today to keep some momentum going towards empathy, feedback loops/justice/appropriate regulations, public health and hope!
You’re most welcome, Will! I’m glad your elbow functional and that you’re pain free. It sounds like you were fortunate to have the doctor you had and probably good PT, too. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Yes, as the saying goes, no one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
Wow….. what a gem! I need to listen to it several times to revel in the lyrics and the beautiful voices, intricate harmonies. Jinny and Will, it is a perfect musical bouquet.
Yes! Marcy and Zina are operating a a very high level of craft in their songwriting. And apparently they are both lovely human beings, too. Thank you for listening, Molly!
Ah, what a catchy, uplifting song! Your voices match perfectly, and I love the harmonies. A three minutes”positivity break” like this is good thing- a bit of a recharge so you can carry on a bit more hopefully.
Happy weekend!
That was my feeling, too. Let’s release something fun and uplifting right now as summer is beginning to wind down and the fall electoral season — along with increasingly panicked shenanigans from one particular leader/party — ramps up. Thank you for listening, Julie! PS: I read recently that a romantic partner can be turned on by their spouse doing simple acts of pitching in around the house — such as a husband doing the laundry or washing the dishes or changing a diaper or putting a child to bed. I wonder if this may have been the premise/insight which sparked Marcy and Zina to write this comedic/romantic tour de force…
What a fun and sassy song! Thanks for the musical relief. Jinny seems very talented. I love the sunflower painting! Your music is a much needed balm in these turbulent times. Thank you Will, Jinny, and Doug. 🙏😍🎹