"George Washington's Dollar Bird" is a laugh-out-loud portrayal of Washington's Christmas-day crossing of the Delaware. With a folk instrumental background, playwright-songwriter Uke Jackson tells how Twitchy Boy uses his magic to assist Washington. Including an explanation of why hemp is illegal, Jackson's satire is masterfully written and told.
A Playwright's Big Break
In 1972, after being honorably discharged from the Air Force, New Jersey native Stephen DiLauro) AKA Uke Jackson) landed in jail for marijuana possession. Though not the ideal digs for a young writer, prison launched his career. He spoke to Suite 101 about his adventures.
A trustee, knowing DiLauro was a writer, surreptitiously told him about Princeton's Street Theater contest. Stephen hastily rewrote the antiwar comedy he had just finished as a play. The trustee smuggled the manuscript out of the prison and mailed it. Dristi Magic won. After much pleading with the judge, DiLauro was allowed to attend opening night.
Since then, he's written for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald as well as numerous magazines including Smithsonian. His play Avenue Z Afternoon a comedy about a burglar and his "victim,", was produced for TV's General Motors Playwright's Theater, Starring Anne Meare and Lou Diamond Phillips. DiLauro's books include Perillo: Artist of the American West (1982) and Dogancay, (1984) -- both for the Alpine Fine Arts Collection.
Stephen DiLauro and Uke Jackson: Two Sides of the Same Coin
In 2000, DiLauro started playing guitar for Peter Taney's Juggernaut String Band. When Stephen began pulling out his ukulele, Taney asked him to come up with an on-stage persona, and Uke Jackson was born.
"It just caught on," says Uke, "The first instrument I ever played was a plastic ukulele, and Jackson is my wife's name."
Music, which he does for "walking around money," has never been the primary focus of Jackson's professional life. Nonetheless, from learning "16 Tons" at six from the Arthur Godfrey Show, to mastering the ukulele, flute, guitar and bass, Jackson is an accomplished musician-recording artist. He recorded with late jazz pocket-trumpeter Don Cherry (1936-95. More recently, Jackson started the annual New York Ukulele Festival.
Uke Jackson, The Delaware River and Pete Seeger
Like Washington's famous Christmas victory, Uke Jackson is inexorably connected to the Delaware River. Having lived near it most of his life, he is a longtime activist for its purification and preservation. He feels a kinship for another river protector, Pete Seeger, whose work to clean up the Hudson is legendary.
"He's an icon and a hero of mine since I was a kid," Jackson says of the ninety-year-old.
Jackson credits Seeger for helping him develop a social consciousness. He quips that he likes Seeger even though the banjo player made fun of ukuleles. On a more serious note, he states that New Yorkers don't drink the Hudson. They get about half of their water from the Delaware. Jackson, who is active with the nonprofit Delaware Riverkeeper, explains that the Delaware's progress makes it "a poster child for the Clean Water Act."
"Industry is constantly trying to push it back," he sighs, "make it easier to pollute."
Sing Out! Magazine and Uke Jackson
"Sing Out! is vital to the folk scene," Jackson says of the premier folk music magazine which celebrates its sixtieth anniversary in May, "Pete Seeger founded it. After Woody Guthrie, he's the father of American folk music. Need I say more?"
Started by Seeger in 1950 to promote social activism through music, Sing Out! is now a not-for-profit educational organization. It has a substantial multimedia resource center, containing recordings, letters, photos and other items from the folk music movement. Along with Oberlin College Sing Out! is indexing the collection and making it available on-line. Sing Out! still publishes the quarterly journal, containing lead sheets and a CD with each issue. It also publishes the songbook Rise Up Singing.
"I love Rise Up Singing," says Uke, "I have both formats and am turning to it frequently when wanting to freshen up the set list."
Like many folk performers, Jackson, in his days as Stephen DeLauro, was featured in Sing Out!.
"Years ago," he remembers, "my River Tales series of storytelling and music for families got reviewed in Sing Out! As a result I got some booking and sold a fair number of CDs."
Though reviews appeared in many other print outlets including the Philadelphia Inquirer and Newsweek, Jackson recalls that Sing Out! generated the most sales.
"The article came out several months after the mainstream media press coverage peaked," Jackson states, "It seemed the project found its market. Hundreds of CDs sold by mail order, many with letters saying they saw it in Sing Out. Then I got a few gigs, and got booked as a showcase artist to do storytelling at NERFA (Northeast Regional Folk Alliance). It was quite a little boost!"
Uke Jackson Nowadays
Jackson is working on production plans for his latest musical comedy Café Lystrata. Download songs from the play and his album Ukulele Street, with the New York Ukulele Ensemble, from his site.
Donna W. Hill - Donna W. Hill is an author, singer/songwriter, recording artist, speaker and avid knitter in Pennsylvania's rural Endless Mountains. Her ...
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