W
Wanker
Guest
Sophie Milman grew up “100 per cent kosher,” but she also celebrated Christmas.
In Russia, where she was born, everyone decorated trees with snowflakes and Santas, she says, and there were presents.
“It was adorable, the big family dinners, the smell of the tree in the house,” she says.
It was something everyone celebrated regardless of religious affiliation, remembersMilman, whose family continued to decorate a little plastic fir tree when they moved to Israel. By the time she moved to Canada at age 16, tree decorating was an entrenched habit.
So it will be no great leap for Milman to sing Christmas songs at Jazz FM 91’s A Kosher Christmas show on Dec. 3 at Hugh’s Room, celebrating Jewish songwriters who gave us our most memorable Christmas tunes. “White Christmas,” “Let it Snow,” “Silver Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” are a few of the seasonal classics penned by Jewish songwriters.
“I’m singing ‘Santa Baby,’ how fun is that?” laughs Milman of the 1953 song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, who were Jewish. “It’s clearly dated, but it’s so cute and cheeky.”
These songwriters “wanted to be part of the fabric of American life, to integrate into local society, to reduce the feeling of otherness,” Milman says.
Milman, one of three Jewish singers performing in the show, will also sing “I’ll be Home for Christmas” (by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram), “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Johnny Marks), and “Christmas Time is Here” (Lee Mendelson/Vince Guaraldi).
This is the first of a Jazz FM series of performances celebrating Jewish composers, including The Jewish Experience on Broadway on Jan. 28; Jazz from the World of Disney: The Sherman Brothers on Feb. 25; and Tribute to the Brill Building on March 25.
Ross Porter, president and CEO of Jazz FM, says there’s no mystery to why so many Christmas songs were penned by Jewish immigrants to the U.S. They were prolific and wrote about everything.
“A good song is a good song is a good song,” he says. “It’s all about inspiration.”
Mel Torme wrote “The Christmas Song,” which begins “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” in the midst of a summer heat wave, Porter says. “The inspiration was the heat. Irving Berlin wrote ‘White Christmas’ sitting beside a pool in Los Angeles.”
The songs themselves are poetry and stories, says Porter, who is not Jewish. For instance, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” written in the midst of the Second World War, touches anyone who has had a loved one in a war zone.
“We all have a video we play in our heads when we hear that song,” says Porter, in his case having a brother serve in Vietnam and a son who has done numerous tours in Afghanistan.
Julie Michels, who describes herself as a “fellow Red Sea pedestrian,” says she can’t sing that song as it brings her to tears.
She’ll sing “Let it Snow” (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne), “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” (Berlin) and “The Christmas Song.”
“I’m a Christmas junkie,” she says. “Santa Claus is the spirit of giving. People are kinder to each other. Anything that accomplishes that, I’m keeping.
“I’ve been known to walk around wearing antlers on my head.”
, formerly of the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, who has trained as a Jewish cantor, says the majority of the most beloved Christmas songs were written from 1930 to 1960.
“The history of Jewish composers is mostly about American assimilation,” he says.
The songs, with their perfect families, fires and food, “represent Eisenhower America and a degree of idealism.”
Wall, who curated the song list, will provide stories and comments about the songs during the show.
The lyrics of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (John Frederick Coots/Haven Gillespie), Wall points out, could just as easily apply to Joseph McCarthy and his communist-chasing committee: “He sees you when you’re sleeping / he knows when you’re awake / he knows if you’ve been bad or good / so be good for goodness sake.”
“‘White Christmas’ is about America, it is not about Christmas. It has a deep emotional resonance that has nothing to do with baby Jesus. It is pure nostalgia,” Wall says.
Jewish performers singing Christmas songs written by Jewish composers “is a paradox that makes this hilarious,” says Wall. “Most Jews like Christmas.”
https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...any_christmas_songs_were_written_by_jews.html
In Russia, where she was born, everyone decorated trees with snowflakes and Santas, she says, and there were presents.
“It was adorable, the big family dinners, the smell of the tree in the house,” she says.
It was something everyone celebrated regardless of religious affiliation, remembersMilman, whose family continued to decorate a little plastic fir tree when they moved to Israel. By the time she moved to Canada at age 16, tree decorating was an entrenched habit.
So it will be no great leap for Milman to sing Christmas songs at Jazz FM 91’s A Kosher Christmas show on Dec. 3 at Hugh’s Room, celebrating Jewish songwriters who gave us our most memorable Christmas tunes. “White Christmas,” “Let it Snow,” “Silver Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” are a few of the seasonal classics penned by Jewish songwriters.
“I’m singing ‘Santa Baby,’ how fun is that?” laughs Milman of the 1953 song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, who were Jewish. “It’s clearly dated, but it’s so cute and cheeky.”
These songwriters “wanted to be part of the fabric of American life, to integrate into local society, to reduce the feeling of otherness,” Milman says.
Milman, one of three Jewish singers performing in the show, will also sing “I’ll be Home for Christmas” (by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram), “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Johnny Marks), and “Christmas Time is Here” (Lee Mendelson/Vince Guaraldi).
This is the first of a Jazz FM series of performances celebrating Jewish composers, including The Jewish Experience on Broadway on Jan. 28; Jazz from the World of Disney: The Sherman Brothers on Feb. 25; and Tribute to the Brill Building on March 25.
Ross Porter, president and CEO of Jazz FM, says there’s no mystery to why so many Christmas songs were penned by Jewish immigrants to the U.S. They were prolific and wrote about everything.
“A good song is a good song is a good song,” he says. “It’s all about inspiration.”
Mel Torme wrote “The Christmas Song,” which begins “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” in the midst of a summer heat wave, Porter says. “The inspiration was the heat. Irving Berlin wrote ‘White Christmas’ sitting beside a pool in Los Angeles.”
The songs themselves are poetry and stories, says Porter, who is not Jewish. For instance, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” written in the midst of the Second World War, touches anyone who has had a loved one in a war zone.
“We all have a video we play in our heads when we hear that song,” says Porter, in his case having a brother serve in Vietnam and a son who has done numerous tours in Afghanistan.
Julie Michels, who describes herself as a “fellow Red Sea pedestrian,” says she can’t sing that song as it brings her to tears.
She’ll sing “Let it Snow” (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne), “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” (Berlin) and “The Christmas Song.”
“I’m a Christmas junkie,” she says. “Santa Claus is the spirit of giving. People are kinder to each other. Anything that accomplishes that, I’m keeping.
“I’ve been known to walk around wearing antlers on my head.”
, formerly of the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, who has trained as a Jewish cantor, says the majority of the most beloved Christmas songs were written from 1930 to 1960.
“The history of Jewish composers is mostly about American assimilation,” he says.
The songs, with their perfect families, fires and food, “represent Eisenhower America and a degree of idealism.”
Wall, who curated the song list, will provide stories and comments about the songs during the show.
The lyrics of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (John Frederick Coots/Haven Gillespie), Wall points out, could just as easily apply to Joseph McCarthy and his communist-chasing committee: “He sees you when you’re sleeping / he knows when you’re awake / he knows if you’ve been bad or good / so be good for goodness sake.”
“‘White Christmas’ is about America, it is not about Christmas. It has a deep emotional resonance that has nothing to do with baby Jesus. It is pure nostalgia,” Wall says.
Jewish performers singing Christmas songs written by Jewish composers “is a paradox that makes this hilarious,” says Wall. “Most Jews like Christmas.”
https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...any_christmas_songs_were_written_by_jews.html
