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Friday March 16, 2007

Party on

Music options abound, but the key is getting the crowd involved

by steven friedman
correspondent

No longer “is it live, or is it Memorex,” but parents and children must still choose what kind of music and entertainment they want at the bar- or bat mitzvah party. Only now, instead of live music or recorded with a DJ, it’s live or filtered through a computer receiver video screen-stereo speaker.

Fortunately, either can be a good choice; there is something for everyone when it comes to hiring a bar or bat mitzvah band or disc jockey/video jockey enterprise. Because of several options, parents can worry less about bursting Grandma’s eardrums or offending Uncle Moishe with obscene lyrics.

At the same time, kids need not fear that the teens will be tucked into a corner of the ballroom, silently screaming as Andy Williams warbles in the background.

With many live bands and emcee entertainers to choose from in the Bay Area, a key before hiring one is to size up how they handle a diverse crowd.

Dan Ohrman, general manager in charge of bar and bat mitzvah entertainment at Denon & Doyle in Pleasant Hill, says it’s important to “understand our demographic.”

“We are great believers in greeting people from the beginning and breaking the ice,” he adds, explaining how his company harnesses the crowd’s energy and gets almost everyone involved.

“By the time we enter the big room, people are already our friends. We’re not glorified babysitters. We get people involved and position ourselves as more than disc jockeys.”

He also notes that one must consider all those attending the celebration, not just the younger set. “If it’s an older crowd, we adjust the music’s volume and include older-generation songs.”

Julie Egger of the Red Hot Chachkas, a Marin-based klezmer band, also knows how to surmise the situation and adjust tactics accordingly.

Sometimes she throws herself into the middle of things to get the party rolling. “Dancing works to get people involved,” she says. “We lead and teach Yiddish dancing, and bring out the limbo pole and chairs and have Yiddish music.”

For the more reticent participants, many of whom, Egger says, tend to be teenaged males, “I can dance with a water bottle on my head all the way to the floor, then I’ll pass the bottle and for the boys it’s a macho thing, ‘Oh, I can do that.’”

There’s also the “sher,” — Yiddish line dancing, Yiddish hokey pokey and other group dances such as “threading the needle” and “weaving” round the chair.

The Red Hot Chachkas and other klezmer bands, such as Klezmania! headed by San Francisco’s Ben Brussell, have positioned themselves as alternatives to the strobe lights, inflatable guitars, day-glo toys, and pulsating music and dancers typical of many parties.

“Klezmer music is contagious,” says Egger, who plays violin and teaches music. “We help bring Judaism to a bar or bat mitzvah and make the whole party Jewish, an extension of the service. We don’t want to offer a teenage disco party.”

Brussell admits that teens might actually prefer the wild and crazy extravaganza. “Usually parents and grandparents want us there,” says Brussell, who is classically trained on the mandolin and violin and sings fluently in five languages. “But we’re high-energy fun, Jewish soul music as a shot in the arm.”

One time, Brussell recalls, he and Klezmania! had the crowd at a Congregation Beth Emek event singing along and crying to their Yiddish performance. “Then the DJ came on, turned out the lights, put on the disco ball, and just killed the mood.”

Brussell cautions that parents need to “think about what the music is supposed to be doing” before they hire their entertainment.

Added Egger, “the party is for everyone, not just the kids, to feel good.”

As for current teen favorites, hip-hop and rap music are still big, Ohrman says, but the biggest musical trend is “something called the hyphy movement, a hip-hop hybrid with artists such as E40 and Matt Dre that we have to play or kids tend to be upset.”

“Middle grade kids throughout history are interested in rebellion,” explains Warren Rodgerson of Creative Soul, which does 30 to 50 bar and bat mitzvah celebrations annually. “If parents say certain songs are OK, I’ll play them. But the kids are fairly reasonable and we can opt for radio edits,” songs that are suitable for all listeners.

What Rodgerson and Creative Soul have perfected is utilizing technology to enhance the experience for the kids and their families. “We’ve taken karaoke to another level,” he says. “Kids record songs in front of a green screen, then we bring it through the computer, add the video and burn a DVD as they’re performing, and hand it out as a party favor.”

Parents can also go to Creative Soul’s Web site to create song lists, schedule exact timing for special songs during the celebration, and send themselves and Rodgerson copies of their requests.

Denon & Doyle’s Web site devotes an entire section to bar and bat mitzvahs, listing Jewish dances, games, shows, popular packages and many other options.

But whether the entertainment is live or digitally enhanced, people still have to, in the immortal words of Jewish rappers the Beastie Boys, “fight for the right to party.” Or at least just party. For that is the essence of the post-b’nai mitzvah celebration.

Creative Soul (510) 237-5090, www.creativesoulevents.com

Denon & Doyle (800) 944-9585, www.djay.com)

Klezmania! (415-239-4670, www.bennybemusic.com)

Red Hot Chachkas (415-488-9125, www.redhotchachkas.com)

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