A GREAT EVENING

from page 41

Chocolate Chips

Family entertainer and songwriter Joel Frankel to
perform at YAD event.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

W

3/17
2005

42

hen you are 8 years old, you
do not want to hear songs
about finding true love and
getting married and living together for-
ever, like most songs in the world talk
about. That's because these things are
stupid.
Well, maybe not stupid. But how can
they compare to the really important
stuff in life, like how tough it is to sit
still and how your parents and teachers
keep nagging you to do just that, and
chocolate chips — lots of them.
Children of the world, rest assured —
Joel Frankel is not going to play you any
lovey dovey songs. But he does know all
about the challenges of sitting still, and
chocolate chips, and just about every-
thing else that kids want to hear.
Frankel, a singer, songwriter, producer,
teacher and children's entertainer, will
perform with his partner Eddie Ganet
for parents and children age 8 and
younger from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on
Sunday, March 20, at Congregation
Shan rey Zedek West Bloomfield, B'nai
Israel Center. The event, which is
chaired by Pamela and Erez Azaria, is $5
for a family, and tickets may be pur-
chased at the door.
A native of the East Coast, Frankel has
lived throughout the United States. He
got his big start in Los Angeles, where
he was working with a music therapist.
He played the guitar, then began writing
his own songs, recording and perform-
ing.
It didn't take long for Frankel's music
to get noticed, and he worked with
some of the industry's biggest names,
including producers Barry Mann and
Steve Tyrell.
Frankel's music began appearing in
TV shows and films, including his song
"We Go Together," which was featured
in Big, starring Tom Hanks. "We Go
Together" was the first song Frankel
wrote especially for children.
Writing music for the younger set was
not really his dream. "But I'm good at it
and it likes me," says Frankel, the father
of a daughter in high school and an 11-
year-old son. 'And children respond well
to me."
Writing the songs is the easy part of
his job, says Frankel, whose CDs include
"Don't Sit on a Cactus," "I Can't Sit

Still" and "JoJo's Barnyard Bash."
A title will come to mind and inspire
an entire song. Or he'll just start think-
ing of an animal — maybe a rabbit —
"and I'll write a rabbit song." Or some-
times "someone says something that
strikes you as musical, lyrical."
Of course, a lot of work follows.
'After the inspiration comes the perspi-
ration. To craft a song takes time. You
might have to rewrite a lyric to make it
sing a little better, or the music might
need to be tweaked to make it more
interesting."
Then comes the really hard part: find-
ing and maintaining work, and then the
really fun part: performing.
"You do have to be creative about sus-
taining the interest of your audience"
when it's a collection of children aged 3
months to 16 years old. "You have to
learn how to read them." But as for the
singing and silliness and the interaction:
"Once you're in front of people,"
Frankel says, "it's not work."
After living in Los Angeles, then
Philadelphia, on a whim Frankel accept-
ed an invitation "to play music with
friends I vaguely knew in Chicago." He
ended up staying, and that's where
Frankel makes his home today.
When not in concert, Frankel can be
found at Chicago's Children's Memorial
Hospital, where each month he per-
forms free, under the auspices of Chai
Lifeline, for the boys and girls or writing
jo77. or listening to Brazilian music,
Bonnie Raitt and Green Day. "My tastes
are pretty eclectic," he says.
He's also had a taste of the movies and
once was more than enough.
Frankel makes a brief, but memorable
appearance, in Father of the Bride, star-
ring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton. "I
was the accordion player," he says.
He enjoyed working with Steve
Martin who, in-between takes (which
lasted forever, says Frankel, who would
"never want to do a film again; there's
too much sitting around"), would ask
Frankel to play this or that song on the
accordion.
"'Okay,' he would tell me. 'Here's a
challenge for you. Can you do 'Battle of
New Orleans'? Can you do Amore'?"
Frankel doesn't own a copy of Father
of the Bride. "But every now and then I'll
see the movie when they play it on TV
and I'll see myself as the accordion play-
er and that is hysterical."

❑

Clockwise, starting above:
Je_Klein and Julie, 5, of Waterford
Jessica, 3, and JeVindon of Southfield
Michael Dorman of West Bloomfield
with Pearl 8, and Tedi, 11
Madison, 4, and Sam Zeidman
of Farmington Hills
Event chair David Strauss and Caroline,
5 1/2, of Farmingon Hills
Ethan and Eden Gilan,
of West Bloomfield
Murray Sittsamer of Farmington Hills
with daughters Eden, 7, and Lexie, 10

Additional photos, go to
JNOnline.com .