ELISE'S ORIGINAL SONGS FROM THE GLOBAL TRADITION Known for her eclectic taste in music, her community activism, and her travels around the world, Elise Witt sings "Global, Local & Homemade Songs™. On Valise, the original songs include Clothes Swap (a funky ode to the virtues of re-cycling and girl gatherings), Set Us Free (inspired by the words of Reverend Timothy MacDonald at Martin Luther King Jr.'s 80th birthday celebration at the National Historic Site in Atlanta), Venus Between Us (a tribute to Soul Music), Ma Roulotte (a french gypsy jazz waltz, co-written with partner Mick Kinney), Butterfly's Mysteries (a scientific boogie, written at the Callaway Gardens Butterfly House), Verkehrte Welt (Crazy Mixed Up World, a German paradox poem à la Oh Suzanna), and Blessed Nation (original music by Elise Witt to a poem by folk icon Pete Seeger). SONGS FROM PETE SEEGER, ARGENTINA, HARP, AND BEBOP Songs on the CD contributed by other writers include the dreamy Singing in My Sleep (composed for Elise by harpist Susan Ottzen), Jackie (a brief history of Bebop from the mouse's perspective by Lambert, Hendrix & Ross), Maria Elena Walsh's Como La Cigarra (Like the Cicada - an Argentine anthem to the power of music for survival), Marlene Dietrich's I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin, and a couple of wonderful duets with the inimitable Mick Kinney. I STILL HAVE A SUITCASE THERE, THAT WAY I CAN ALWAYS RETURN The suitcase pictured in the CD booklet was brought by my family from Switzerland in 1956. We came by boat. I was 3 years old and spoke only German. I learned the song “I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin” with my dad, who was born and grew up in Berlin. We used to sing it together, imitating the great Marlene Dietrich. I felt, but didn’t understand, the deep meaning for my father in this song of longing and loss, nostalgia and love of place. In recent years, I have been singing with refugee populations in Atlanta, and I have learned so much from them. My journey from Switzerland to the United States, has none of the horrific experience of the refugee camps, the interminable waiting, and living with uncertainty and despair. But being transported to a new continent, a new language, and a new culture as an impressionable 3 year old definitely left its mark. I dedicate this Suitcase of Songs to my parents who always not only supported, but even encouraged my forays and experimentations, even when they were foolhardy. And to all travellers, who have a suitcase of memories left behind somewhere. As the song says, “That way, I can always return.” I really hope you enjoy this suitcase of wildly eclectic (like me) songs! VALISE by Elise Witt EMW-1011 ©2009 EMWorld Records Produced by Elise Witt, Mick Kinney & Ken Gregory Recorded and mastered by Ken Gregory at 800 East Studios www.880East.com Except “Like” recorded by Martin Kearns Mixed by Ken Gregory & Elise Witt Booklet design, graphics, photography by Reid Jenkins www.freejoye.com Drawings by Mick Kinney SPECIAL THANKS Ken Gregory, Mick Kinney, Reid Jenkins, and all the fabulous musicians who helped me realize these songs. and Inge Witt, Ann Kilkelly, Carol Burch Brown, Rhiannon, ATWI, Sandy Weaver, Velma Frye, Terry Garthwaite, Becky Reardon, Jon Hendricks, Alternate ROOTS, Sophie Caballero, Bart Ruark, Donna Glee Williams, NCCAT, Joyce Brookshire, Celeste Miller, Melanie Hammet, Cherilynn Morrow, Deidre McCalla, Janet Metzger, Julie Austin, Beverly Botsford, and all the Divas