A, f & Entertainment

The

Sounds. Of Chanukah

Listen up to CDS celebrating the Festival of Lights.

I

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

L

ooking for some recordings to
enhance your Chanukah celebra-
tion?
You'll find plenty of fresh choices —
old holiday songs with new arrange-
ments and new holiday songs with con-
temporary beats. They range from seri-
ous to silly.
Some of the recording artists are
familiar, while others are emerging.
Some songs are straightforward, while
others use parodies to give personal
takes on holiday partying.
With eight very different CDs, cele-
brating the Festival of Lights can change
mood with each day for those who like
variety. Checking the Web sites for each
album will let buyers know if the tone
fits in with their preferences (prices vary,
so check Web sites for those, too!).

The
Hanukkah
Lounge brings
an addition to
Craig
Taubman's
"Celebrate
Series:'
which pro-
vides recordings for
Jewish holidays throughout the year..
Taubman's latest CD features party music
of a special kind. It is strictly instrumen-
tal, so it can be played in the background
while entertaining family and friends.
Taubman planned the recording to
include an eclectic mix of classics with
Ivell-known, award-winning artists. "I
Have a Little Dreidl" showcases Stephen
Lawrence, writer of Mario Thomas' Free
to Be You and Me project."Chanutronika"
is performed by Grammy-winning
guitarist Laurence Juber.
Craig 'n Co.; S15. WWW. c r a ig nco.com .

Hanukkah
Swings! puts
the big-band
sound into
holiday
. music.

50

December 22 2005

Kenny Ellis, cantor at Temple Beth
Haverim in California and former radio
host, carries on the musical interests of
his father and late father-in-law, Stan
Caplan, who played saxophone for Johnny
Mathis.
Songs include "Swingin' Dreidel,""Ocho
Kandelikas" and "Hanukah Swingin'
Holiday." There also are two original num-
bers, "Hanukah Candles" and "Hanu-
calypso."
Ellis sings in English and Hebrew with
lively, jazzy twists and has piano solos
with co-producer Stu Goldberg.
•
Favored Nations Entertainment; $13.98.
www.favorednations.com .

The Debbie
Friedman
Anthology, a
two-disk
compilation
of religious
songs, has a
few tracks
devoted to
Chanukah — "The Latke
Song,""The Dreidel Song" and "Light
These Lights" -=• all written by her.
Friedman, who has performed for 35
years, has brought the teachings of
Judaism into the 21st century through her
music. She recently was given the
Heritage Award by the New York Jewish
Music & Heritage Festival and Heeb mag-
azine.
The Tree of Life Division of Hallmark
has published Chanukah cards featuring
excerpts from Friedman's lyrics. She also
has licensed her music to several video
projects, including Hanukkah Tales &
Tunes.
Jewish Music Group; $29.95. \vww.deb-
biefriedman.com .

Bananukah!
with Danna
Banana (Dan
Cohen) is for
the younger set
with a goal of
communicat-
ing the spirit
of the holi-
day. The CD is a
recording taken from a Chanukah show

for families. The first half tells the story
of the holiday, and the second half
invites audience participation.
Cohen, a graduate of the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music, is a
trained operatic baritone who has per-
formed with Eugene Opera, Sacramento
Symphony and Des Moines Metro
Opera.
Two songs are original, and the rest
are traditional. "La-La-Latkes" and "If I
Were a Candle" are among the tracks.
One Soul Records, $16.99. www.one-
soulrecords.com .

Gimme
Some Latkes
is directed to
the baby
boomers
with paro-
dies of pop
and rock
hits from
the 1960s performed by
the band Guns 'N Charoses. Mark
Edelman founded the group in 1993,
when he recorded "Everybody's Got a
Jewish Mom" with members of the origi-
nal Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight").
The CD title song is a parody of the
Spencer Davis Group hit "Give Me Some
Lovin:" Other songs stray from the
December holiday. For instance, "Good
Yom Tov" is a takeoff on the Young
Rascals' "Good Lovin:"
Chutzpah Music; $12.95.
w\Nrw.kewlju.(2011.1.

Meshugga
Beach Party:
Twenty Songs
of the Chosen
Surfers offers
contempo-
rary
arrange-
ments for
traditional
Jewish songs,
including "Dreidel, Dreidel,""Oh
Hanukkah" and "Manz Tsur." The idea is
that today's twangy chords make sounds
similar to Middle Eastern instruments.
Mel Waldorf, who produced the CD,
based this recording on the surf guitar

music he performs with the Mel-Tones in
San Francisco. Waldorf has written origi-
nal surf music for a variety of TV shows
and movies, including Nickelodeon's
Sponge Bob Square Pants, Disney's My
Favorite Martian and MTV's The Real
World.
Jewish Music Group; $17.98.
www.meshuggabeachparty.com .

Chutzpah, the
namesake CD of
the group calling
themselves "the
first Jewish hip-
hop super
group,"
includes
"Chanukah's
da. Bomb" in
•
its rappers'
approach to the holidays and
other Jewish subjects. In hip-hop speak,
"da bomb" means "cool" and fits in with
the recording intended to bring offbeat
humor to Jewish subjects.
The three rappers making up the group
— with stage names Master Tav, MC
Meshugenah and Jewdah — have done a
music video for "Chanukah's da Bomb," to
be available on MTV OnLine and Video
on Demand.
Jewish Music Group; $17.98. www.jew-
ishmusicgroup.com . .

Kosher
Christmas
Carols replaces
13 familiar
sets of
Yuletide lyrics
with
Chanukah
themes. The
melody for
"Jingle. Bells" turns into the
song "Dizzy Spells." The Music for
"Greensleeves" sets the mood for
"GreenStein."
The CD is produced by Michael Lange,
a film and TV director who has worked
on the movie Intern and the series •
Riptide and Life Goes On.
•
Silly Music; $13.95.
www.sillymusic.com . ❑