On a September afternoon in his East Village apartment, Jesse Malin was learning to stand up in front of a microphone. He pressed his right hand on his knee and grabbed a mic stand with his left. A physical therapist stood behind him in case he started to fall. He wore a yellow T-shirt emblazoned with a Lion of Judah, a Rasta symbol that gave him inspiration.
At the count of three, he lurched forward and up, clinging to the stand for balance.
“Let’s get me down,” he said. “I’m scared.”
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Malin, 57, has been standing at microphones for 45 years, first as a 12-year-old punk pioneer, later as leader of the ’90s glam-rock band D Generation and for the last two decades as a touring singer-songwriter.
But on this day, he was preparing for a concert like no other in his career. On Dec. 1 and 2, he will perform in public for the first time in a year and a half, following a rare spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Joining him at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan will be some of the friends he has made over his career: Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones, the Hold Steady, J Mascis, Fred Armisen and a host of others. Proceeds go to pay his medical bills and expenses.