Solo Recital (April)

since its Thanksgiving week re-
lease.
Comment: No one is unaware of
It's tempting to say that, re-
the vast extent of Perlman's tal- gardless of our current infatua-
ents. More and more people, tion with the modern and the
though, are becoming aware that alternative, great, tried-and-true
he seems to be playing more by rock 'n' rule will out. But don't tell
rote than by inspiration these
that to Elton John, Rod Stewart,
days.
David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Bob
Seger or Neil Young (who record-
Conductor Eije Oue's DSO De- ed with Pearl Jam) — seasoned
but (January)
superstars who were disappoint-
ed
at the cash register this year.
Comment: The advance publici-
ty on Oue, who's taking over the Even Bruce Springsteen's laud-
Minnesota Orchestra, made him ed new album The Ghost of Tom
seem like the best thing to come Joad is a slow seller.
Michael Jackson's mightily
along since lox and bagels. In fact,
his lackluster debut made one hyped HISstory package was also
a flop; even with 2 million copies
wonder what all the
f / 2 of Bagel sold, it fell far short of record com-
fuss is about.
pany guarantees that were 10
Pianist Bruno Leonardo Gel- and 20 times higher.
And even being part of the
ber's DSO Performance
modern-rock community didn't
(March)
guarantee success. New albums
Comment: Gelber is a gifted pi- by Soul Asylum, the Red Hot
anist, but he slept his way through Chili Peppers, Lenny Kravitz,
Beethoven's Fourth Piano Con- Blind Melon, Green Day and
certo, proving once again that Candlebox sold only a fraction of
bored performers 1
their mega-hit predecessors.
should take some time /2 of Bagel
What's happening here? Ba-
off.
sically, this is where the modern-
rock revolution — begun with
the first Lollapalooza tour and
Nirvana's breakthrough in 1991
— has led. Radio and video me-
dia, crucial to selling any kind of
music, are so ensconced in a
search for the next big thing that
there's little concern for devel-
GARY GRAFF
oping and sustaining a particu-
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
lar act.
Hence, there's an endless pa-
n rock 'n' roll, 1995 was a good rade of potential one-hit wonders,
year to be new.
and no assurances for anybody
The big winners of the year who has a track record. Hootie,
— Hootie & the Blowfish, Ala- so hot today, can easily become
nis Morissette,
yesterday's Blow-
Bush, Silverchair
fish.
— came largely
There's also the
out of nowhere,
specter of increased
even though a
competition for en-
couple of them
tertainment dollars
had been slogging
and time, particu-
it out away from
larly from cable TV
the mainstream
and burgeoning
spotlight.
computer on-line
But the music
services.
industry wasn't
Still, this is a
exactly celebrat-
cyclical kind of
ing. By year's end,
trend, and pop mu-
sales are expect- Newcomer Alanis Morissette had sic has been here
ed to come in at a blockbuster '95.
before. But it's also
about $12 billion
fair warning that
— about the same as in 1994. A the winners of '95 could well wind
flat line on the profit/loss graph up as losers in '96.
isn't likely to play well in board
rooms, which spent much of '95
shaking up the power structure
at the Warner Music Group,
MCA and Motown.
Ironically in this year of new
breakthroughs, the big music sto-
ry was the Beatles — an oldie ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
that proved to be not quite moldy. ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The Beatles Anthology was a TV
hit, and the first of three com-
ust the thought of a sweet
panion albums — stoked by the
potato in tzimmes is
new song, "Free As A Bird" —
enough to give author
has been blowing out of stores
Robert Sternberg the
chills. He doesn't just dislike the
Gary Graff writes about rock,
idea, he "deplores" it.
roll for several publications.
`Sweet potatoes add a sac-

.

Rocks and
Rolls in '95

I

The Best Jewish
Books In '95

tip

charine sweetness to what is al- ly published, Isaac Babel: 1920
ready a rather sweet dish," he Diary (Yale University Press)
writes, "and they do nothing to tells of Babel's years with the
enhance the overall flavor and Cossacks. It's often painful read-
visual appeal."
ing, but it's so precise it's diffi-
And when making Weiner- cult to put down.
schnitzel, be certain to pound the
Unlike most writers, Babel
meat to the perfect thinness, manages to capture an image
he warns. Then saute quickly with merely a stroke or two of
— preferably in lots of vibrant, searing words. Of one
skillets so you can cook them all pogrom he wrote, "An old
at once.
woman butchered, a child with
Yiddish Cuisine: A fingers chopped off, many peo-
Gourmet's Approach to Jew- ple still breathing, stench of
ish Cooking (Jason Aronson) blood, everything turned upside
is fun reading, a delight to look down, chaos."
at, and filled with delicious Old
In an era when the average
World recipes certain
reader thinks stories
to conjure memories
in the National En-
of the Lower East
quirer are too long,
Side — even among
one author managed
those of us who
to come up with the
weren't even born
perfect answer to
then.
Jews who don't
Sternberg wrote
know much, but
the cookbook "as a
want to learn.
personal testimony to
Who's Who in
the style and spirit of
Jewish History
the Jewish kitchens
(Oxford University
of Eastern Eu-
Press), by Joan Co-
,a
rope...All of the
may, contains a
recipes are part of the Faye Kellerman's Justice.
brief biography of
traditional cuisine of Rena and Peter Decker are more than 1,000 fig-
a culture and lifestyle back with another hit
ures from 20 cen-
that, to a degree, sequel.
turies of Jewish
have disappeared."
history. It's spicy
Among the dishes: European- stuff, too — art critics and politi-
style cheesecake, fruit tea, home- cians and dictators. Just enough
made sauerkraut, beet green to whet your appetite, or fill it if
salad, spinach latkes and you only want to get the basics.
sauteed mushrooms.
Also recommended:
The recipes constitute the
Nina Beth Cardin's Out
main fare of the book, of course, of the Depths I Call To You
but there are plenty of tasty side (Jason Aronson), a translation
dishes along the way. Yiddish of an 18th-century collection of
Cuisine has charming pho- prayers for women.
tographs from the 1930s and
Growing Up Jewish in
1940s, bits of wise — well, some- America (Harcourt Brace)
times wise — advice, and the au- by Myrna Katz Frommer and
thor's observations on how to Harvey Frommer, a nostalgic
properly think about chicken collection of anecdotes and ad-
soup, to the best bet for a meal ventures from early 20th-centu-
on Shabbat during Chanukah ry America.
(roast goose).
The Christmas Menorahs
Now, what could be more ap- (Albert Whitman), a book for
pealing after a nice, big meal young readers, telling the story
than a Woody Allen film. So of how one Montana town unit-
much humor. So much insight. ed against hate.
So, so much angst.
The Texture of Memory
Assimilation and Its Dis- (Yale University Press), an
contents (Times Books) is one examination of attempts to
of the most fascinating portraits memorialize victims of the Holo-
of American Jewry, not only caust.
from 1995, but ever written. Key
To Pain Her Life (Harper-
in making this book readable is Collins), the story of artist Char-
the author's dearth of informa- lotte Saloman.
tion about Hollywood types,
Mother of the Wire Fence
from Woody Allen to Samuel (Westminster John Knox), fo-
Goldwyn, and their influence on cusing on contemporary society
the American Jewish psyche and and the Holocaust.
on assimilation.
Broken Covenant (Simon &
Mystery fans were dying Schuster), Moshe Arens' exam-
for a new novel linking those ination of the American govern-
spicy sweethearts Peter Decker ment's actions during the Gulf
and Rena Lazarus. They got it War.
this year in Faye Kellerman's
Jerusalem Architecture
Justice (William Morrow (Vendome), the first English-lan-
and Co.). Admittedly, fans guage study of the subject.
are addicted to the books, but
Jerusalem Recovered
more than one reader pro- (Praeger), focusing on British
claimed this work Kellerman's intellectuals' support for Zion-
best.
ism.
A remarkable find, and final-

.

FAYE
KELLE$\

Kids Rate Their
Favorite Books
Of '95

C

hildren visiting the De-
troit Public Library's Chil-
dren's Library and
various branch libraries
were invited to nominate their
all-time favorite books, in ob-
servance of National Children's
Book Week in November. Fol-
lowing are the Top 10 Books for
1995, rated by kids:

For preschool through sec-
ond grade:

1.Dr. Seuss's ABC by
Dr. Seuss

2. I Know an Old Lady Who
Swallowed a Fly by Glen
Rounds

3. The Red Balloon by
A. Lamorisse

4. The Napping House by
Audrey Woods

5. Mouse Tales by Arnold
Lobel

6. Digging up Dinosaurs by
Aliki

7. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by
Beatrix Potter

8. The Rainbow Fish by
Marcus Pfister

9. Mine's the Best by Crosby
Bonsall

10. Thank You, Amelia Bedelia
by Peggy Parish

For third grade through
eighth grade:

1. Meet Addy by Connie Porter

2. The Phantom Tollbooth by
Norton Duster

3. The Secret Garden by
Frances Hodgson Burnett

4. Charlotte's Web by
E.B. White

5. Tales of a Fourth Grade
Nothing by Judy Blume

6. The Witches by Roald Dahl

7. Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein

8. Following the Drinking
Gourd by Jeanette Winter

9. The Giving Tree by
Shel Silverstein

10. Pocahontas by Disney. ❑

55