Jewish jazz musicians

[Noj]

The Chanukah Song - by Adam Sandler

Put on your Yamaka

Its time for Chanukah

So much funnaka

To celebrate Chanukah

Chanukah is the festival of lights

Instead of one day of presents

We get eight crazy nights

When you feel like the only kid in town

Without a Christmas tree

Here's a new list of people who are Jewish

Just like you and me

David Lee Roth lights the menorrah,

So do James Caan, Kirk Douglas, and the late Dinah Shore-ah

Guess who eats together at the Karnickey Deli,

Bowzer from Sha-na-na, and Arthur Fonzerrelli.

pause for giggle

Paul Newman's half Jewish; Goldie Hawn's half too,

Put them together--what a fine lookin' Jew!

You don't need "Deck the Halls" or "Jingle Bell Rock"

Cause you can spin the dreidl with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock--both Jewish!

Put on your yalmulka, it's time for Chanukah,

The owner of the Seattle Supersonic-ahs celebrates Chanukah.

O.J. Simpson--not a Jew!

But guess who is...Hall of Famer--Rod Carew--(he converted!)

We got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby,

Harrison Ford's a quarter Jewish--not too shabby!

Some people think that Ebeneezer Scrooge is,

Well, he's not, but guess who is: All three Stooges.

So many Jews are in show biz--

Tom Cruise isn't, but I heard his agent is.

Winona Ryder,

Drinks Manischewitz wine

Then spins a Dreidle with Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein

Guess who gives and receives

Loads of Chanukah toys

The girls from Veruca Salt and all three Beastie Boys

Lenny Kravitz is half Jewish,

Courtney Love is half too

Put them together

What a funky bad ass Jew

We got Harvey Keitel

And flash dancer Jennifer Beals

Yasmine Bleeth from Baywatch is Jewish

And yes her boobs are real

Put on that yarmulka

Its time for Chanukah

2 time Ocsar winning Dustin Hoffmanaka

celebrates Chanukah

O.J. Simpson

Still not a Jew!

But guess who is,

The guy who does the voice for Scooby Doo

Bob Dylan was born a Jew

Then he wasn't

but now he's back,

Mary Tyler Moore's husband is Jewish

'Cause we're pretty good in the sack.

Guess who got bar-mitzvahed

On the PGA tour

No I'm not talking about Tiger Woods

I'm talkin' about Mr. Happy Gilmore.

So many Jews are in the show biz

Bruce Springsteen isn't Jewish

But my mother thinks he is.

Tell the world-amanaka

It's time to celebrate Chanukah

It's not pronounced Ch-nakah

The C is silent in Chanukah

So read your hooked on phonica

Get drunk in Tijuanaka

If you really really wannaka

Have a happy happy happy happy Chanukah!

[garthsj]

Did we ever really define what we mean by "Jewish" in this thread? I am a Jew by virtue of a Jewish mother and grandmother (her name was Esther Cohen !!!) so I am totally accepted as a Jew, but some of the names on this list might have been of Jewish heritage, but were not practicing Jews .. Shorty Rogers for one .... Sammy Davis, on the other hand converted to Judaism (I am not sure how seriously he practiced his religion) ... So, do we have a definition? This is, of course, an issue that preoccupies much of Israeli culture and internal politics ...

[medjuck]

Serge Chaloff

I think Chaloff was Russian [not a Jew of Russian descent].

Serge Chaloff's mother was not jewish indeed. She was a Presbyterian. But his father was. Even if he converted to Christianity 'after getting miffed at the rabbi from his synagogue who was pressuring him for money' (quote from Vladimir Simosko's biography of Serge Chaloff).

Well according to Orthodox Jewish law (and apparently the laws of Israel) that would mean Serge was not Jewish since it passes through the mother.

[AllenLowe]

and interestingly enough, according to a former student, Madame Chaloff was an anti-semite - I know there's lots of italians and jews who play jazz, but I'll bet if you did a study, there's as many Irish -

jewish-wise, however, let's not forget Len Garment, former Counsel to Richard Nixon, and excellent big-band saxophonist -

also, Bob Mover - and anybody named Schwartz -

[Big Wheel]

and interestingly enough, according to a former student, Madame Chaloff was an anti-semite - I know there's lots of italians and jews who play jazz, but I'll bet if you did a study, there's as many Irish -

jewish-wise, however, let's not forget Len Garment, former Counsel to Richard Nixon, and excellent big-band saxophonist -

also, Bob Mover - and anybody named Schwartz -

Really? Chaloff taught Kenny Werner (has he been mentioned yet?)

[brownie]

Serge Chaloff

I think Chaloff was Russian [not a Jew of Russian descent].

Serge Chaloff's mother was not jewish indeed. She was a Presbyterian. But his father was. Even if he converted to Christianity 'after getting miffed at the rabbi from his synagogue who was pressuring him for money' (quote from Vladimir Simosko's biography of Serge Chaloff).

Well according to Orthodox Jewish law (and apparently the laws of Israel) that would mean Serge was not Jewish since it passes through the mother.

Well, this is Organissimo and I very much hope that we do not abide by Orthodox Jewish Law dictas

If Serge Chaloff had been a youth in nazi-occupied Russia where his parents were born, I know where his life would have ended. Non-jewish mother or not!

[RDK]

"Not that there's anything wrong with that..."

[Larry Kart]

Lennie Niehaus? I doubt it.

Many jazz writers of course:

Dan Morgenstern

Ira Gitler

Yours truly

Garry Giddins

and Lester Bowie's favorite critic, Dave Flexingbergstein

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Zorn was recently in Boston to discuss himself:

ZORN SOUNDS OFF! 

(Boston Globe, by CAROL BEGGY & MARK SHANAHAN, 2005-01-31 )

CHORD AND DISCORD It's likely the last time so many four-letter words were uttered in the hushed Tapestry Room at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was when the Vermeer was pilfered. On Saturday night, it was irascible composer John Zorn talking a blue streak during a lively preconcert chat with George Steel, whose popular Composer Portraits series is on loan here from New York's Miller Theatre. If the Gardner was hoping to attract a different crowd, it did, with a roomful of folks young and shaggy, none more so than Zorn, who was dressed in burgundy and gray camouflage pants, a leather jacket, and fringes from what appeared to be a prayer shawl showing under his clothing. Before the music even started, the composer unleashed one zinger after another, taking shots at the academic music establishment, the New York Philharmonic, composers who use computers, and his own highly unsupportive parents. His last word was in praise of musicians. "For me, writing music is about the people who play it," Zorn barked. "With all due respect, I don't give a [expletive] about the audience."

[Dmitry]

If Serge Chaloff had been a youth in nazi-occupied Russia where his parents were born, I know where his life would have ended. Non-jewish mother or not!

Now that's kind of taking it to extreme. Nazis would've killed a gentile spouse of a Jew as well. It doesn't make the spouse a Jew, does it?

Nazi definition of who was and who wasn't a Jew was just slightly different from the Orthodox [or Conservative, for that matter] model.

I'll settle on Chaloff as a half-Jew.

Did anybody mention Glenn Spearman?

Edited February 8, 2005 by Dmitry

[domo1129]

Adam Nussbaum

btw.........Bellson is Italian

[AllenLowe]

let's not forget that Tommy Flanagan was Irish -

[Larry Kart]

Don Friedman ... probably.

About whether someone is Jewish -- for our purposes here, several sometimes overlapping circles of possible definition come to mind: The aforementioned technical Orthodox one (if you're mother is, yes, father only, no); self-definition and/or social identity (do you think of yourself as Jewish in some significant way? do others, preferably without malice, do so?) For instance, Garth mentioned Shorty Rogers, who apparently did something (converted to Christianity, I assume) that made him not Jewish from one point of view. But Rogers' parentage and social background were Jewish, and, to my mind, there's an arguably Jewish strain in the pensively meditative/witty gestures that mark his playing. Of course, a lot of that came to Shorty by way of Harry Edison, and nobody's saying he was Jewish.

[brownie]

Dju Berry

[Brownian Motion]

A few old timers.

Bernie Privin

Don Goldie

Artie Bernstein

[sidewinder]

Ronnie Scott (Schatt)

Benny Green (UK baritonist)

[AllenLowe]

Charlie Christian?

[garthsj]

About whether someone is Jewish -- for our purposes here, several sometimes overlapping circles of possible definition come to mind: The aforementioned technical Orthodox one (if you're mother is, yes, father only, no); self-definition and/or social identity (do you think of yourself as Jewish in some significant way? do others, preferably without malice, do so?) For instance, Garth mentioned Shorty Rogers, who apparently did something (converted to Christianity, I assume) that made him not Jewish from one point of view. But Rogers' parentage and social background were Jewish, and, to my mind, there's an arguably Jewish strain in the pensively meditative/witty gestures that mark his playing. Of course, a lot of that came to Shorty by way of Harry Edison, and nobody's saying he was Jewish.

At some point in his later life Shorty Rogers converted to a rather evangelical form of Christianity. I am still trying to nail this down more definitively (it is the historian in me!), but I have come across this fact several times in the past. In a lengthy interview with Ross Tompkins in 1984, this is what he had to say about his faith and his work in "The Church":

"As for myself—I would say that the West Coast era was a certain peak, but I just put myself in the hands of the Lord as far as my life and my career are concerned. I just expect things to get bigger and better, and to be led into a more prolific, more productive part of my life. I believe that’s what’s going on; I think that’s why I’m here. I didn’t say: “I have to do this,” but just as when I got out of high school and when I got out of the Army, things were waiting for me, that’s the way I see it happening.

The religious faith I have now is something I’ve grown into during the last five years and seven months. It’s the best period of my life. I’m writing some music for the church; I’ve written three cantatas for a hundred–voice and a hundred–and–twenty–voice choir, plus a big orchestra we put together. And who’s in the church band? Pete Candoli, Bob Cooper and some of the other guys. Some good jazz things are happening too! It’s sacred music, but more or less in a way that I’m having fun with it. In church before, they would never have any ad lib solos—now it’s really cooking, with some great players. It’s as good a band as any I’ve ever had—nothing like the old bass–drum–and–cornet–style church band. If that’s the direction the Lord wants me to go in, I’m not going to argue, because it’s not only fun—it’s palatable to me and to the people I know who love jazz, and it also serves the purpose. I think it’s an area that can afford to be looked into a lot more."

I totally agree with Larry (as I most often do) that in Shorty's total demeanor, from his playing style, to the choice of the titles of his compositions, he was clearly the product of a Jewish cultural upbringing. Earlier in that same Tompkins interview he describes how he requested and received a trumpet as his barmitvah gift.

Funny ... he doesn't look Jewish!

[garthsj]

I also just discovered that one of my favorite deceased musicians, the late baritone sax genius, Bob Gordon was born Bob Resnick .... another to the list ...

[AllenLowe]

interesting that Shorty died young - maybe, to paraphrase an old gospel tune, god didn't like it -

[maren]

Charlie Christian?

BUT -- that reminds me of a fellow music student from my college days, a cellist, definitely Jewish, whose last name was, believe it or not, Goy.

So nu?

[garthsj]

interesting that Shorty died young - maybe, to paraphrase an old gospel tune, god didn't like it -

Allen ... you be bad!

[garthsj]

Charlie Christian?

BUT -- that reminds me of a fellow music student from my college days, a cellist, definitely Jewish, whose last name was, believe it or not, Goy.

So nu?

Well .. if you had the cossacks riding through your house every couple of weeks, I am sure that you would change your name to GOY too ...

[Dmitry]

Paul Horn

[catesta]

Tamir Hendelman