NEWYEAR'S EVE
PARTY
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Dreidel Time Discs
New Chanukah CDs for your
listening pleasure.
RESTAURANT
(9pm- I am)
Entertainment, Six Course Meals,
Champagne, Midnight Brea<fast Buffet.
Party Favors
$90 per person
Regular Menu offered 5pm-9prn
For Holiday and NewYear's Eve Parties
Call for Reservations
248-592-1500
5586 Drake Rd. • West Bloomfield
•- Non- S mokin i7 Estab iis hment
Underwritten by the Daimler Chrysler Foundation
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Vecember 5,
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"Vicectea by /16w( A. Lit
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Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris transforms Brel's
poignant passionate and profound songs into a vivid theatrical experience
that has delighted audiences for nearly four decades. From life and love to
war and peace, this show celebrates Brel's timeless relevance and enduring
passions. Translated from the French by American poet Eric Blau and
lyricist Mort Shuman, the show is a diverse blend of ballads, tangos,
boleros, rock, and classics.
New Years Eve Gala celebration. 9 p.m. performance
followed by dancing, food, and live music.
GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY! 248.788.2900 „,,,,
58
December 14 2006
George Robinson
Special to the Jewish News
I
how profoundly spiritual some of
the Guthrie lyrics are; one expects
the good-natured progressivism of
something like "Come When I Call
You" and "Heaven:' but the deeply felt
religious feeling of "Holy Ground" is
unexpected and moving.
will be frank. I hate December.
I don't like snow and cold. I
find the endless commercialism
appalling — this year the "holiday"
season began shortly after Election
Day.
The I,eeVees: How Do You Spell
And, to be brutally honest, I'm tired
Channukkahh? (JDub/iTunes).
of hearing the same holiday songs
When the LeeVees' Hanukkah
over and over. So the best
Chanukah present I've
MAYN FLISHLANG!
received this year is a pile
of Chanukah-themed CDs
with lots of new holiday
songs, many of them quite
good. Here's what crossed
my desk this December.
The Klezmatics:
Woody Guthrie's
Happy Joyous
Hanukkah (JMG) and
Wonder Wheel (JMG).
I wasn't that enthused
by the Matics' Guthrie
Chanukah set when it
was released last year,
but I have to admit I was wrong. This
is a spirited, jaunty and frequently
funny set that should be particularly
appealing to children (and will give
their parents a respite from "The
Dreidel Song").
The set adds four instrumental
tracks to last year's release, allow-
ing the band to stretch out and show
their chops, but my favorite is a
carry-over, "The Many and the Few,"
a classic example of Guthrie's skill at
rendering narratives into song lyrics
redolent of ballad classics.
Wonder Wheel continues the
Klezmatics' collaborations with the
Guthrie Archives, which is looking
like a very fruitful pairing indeed.
Drawing a wide range of moods and
tones from the archive's collection of
previously unset lyrics, the band gets
to show off its considerable range,
from a funky faux-Latin "Mermaid
Avenue" to a lovely calypso-ish lul-
laby "Headdy Down," froin a weirdly
Asiatic-alt. country "Pass Away" to a
klezmer "Goin' Away to Sea."
One of the surprises of the set is
BEYLE SCHMOITER—GOTTESMAN
Itlittrts,WriVt.VIZI
Rocks came out on JDub last
year, I wrote, "Alt-rock heavies
Adam Gardner of Guster and Dave
Schneider of the Zambonis felt that
the post-punk world desperately
needed a Chanukah record of its own.
... The result is a very funny, smart
self-satire, with adolescent agonies
turned into the difficult choice of
sour cream vs. applesauce (`Tell your
mom to fry, not bake') and of not
getting presents (well, there are 'six-
packs of new socks from each of our
moms')."
Now, they have added an EP
mostly of playful acoustic versions
of the previous Chanukah tunes and
a punchy new tune, "Jewish Stars,"
downloadable from iTunes. Like the
originals, these are amiable, bouncy
and witty rockers. Thirteen minutes
of pure pleasure.
The Lori Cahan-Simon Ensemble:
Chanukah Is Freylekh! (self-dis-
tributed).
This is a very jolly set of European-
style performances — tsimbl and