Bart Simpsons of the Yeshiva:

What I Like About Jew this Sunday at Club Passim

 

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

 

CAMBRIDGE - Hammy, schmaltzy Judaism is usually regaled to the trailblazing comics of a generation ago, who often made their mark on Catskills stages.

 

Make a lot of room, however, for the fresh, musically cutting-edge ensemble "What I Like About Jew," appearing this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Harvard Square’s venerable Club Passim. The Boston debut will feature group creators Sean Altman and Rob Tannenbaum, who co-host a New York City songwriting series described as “a free-wheeling comic cabaret," by Jewish Week and "A tongue-in-cheek New Jew revue," by New York Magazine.

 

Power-pop musician Sean Altman and journalist/songwriter Tannenbaum, whom Time Out New York called “Bart Simpsons of the Yeshiva,” began the act in 1999 at the Knitting Factory's annual Jewsapalooza Festival. An instant hit, it has continued to sell out clubs. “Our episodes include holiday songs, songs about money, songs of sin and redemption, and the influence of Jews on hard rock,” said Altman, who emphasized that all faiths are welcome.

 

The duo, who met in a political science class at Brown University, scored a national radio hit in 1999 with “Hanukah with Monica.” Other compositions include "Reuben The Hook-Nosed Reindeer," "Jews For Jesus," "It's Good To Be a Jew At Christmas," "Hot Jewish Chicks," "A Jew In The White House (The Ballad of Joe Lieberman)," and an ode to circumcision, "Just A Little Off The Top."

 

Altman was a member of the a cappella group Rockapella and composed the “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?” TV theme song His "Unhappy Anniversary" was covered by Vitamin C on her platinum Elektra Records debut.

 

Tannenbaum is a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Details and George. His songwriting skills, he said, “compensate for a lack of any evident musical skill with a willingness to rhyme 'knaydlach' and 'fagellah.'” He leads “avant-moron” rock band White Courtesy Telephone. “Like a pork chop,” he noted, “I’m bad to the bone.”

 

The duo have also been chronicled in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Post (Page Six), The NY Daily News, New York Observer, The Village Voice, The Forward, Rolling Stone Online and Billboard Online.

 

Their sincere, albeit bizarre devotion to the race is longstanding."From the very first snip of the mohel's scissors, I've been faithful to the tribe in the most important ways,” said Altman, who grew up in the “rough’n’tumble Jewish enclave of the Bronx,” and was bar mitzvahed at Ohel Torah Synagogue. He cites his “annual letter perfect recitations of the four questions at Pesach, bar mitzvah replete with lone accordian player, a genetically encoded love of Chinese food, and his meeting his bride-to-be on JDate.com.”

 

Depending on the evening’s particular theme, Altman and Tannenbaum select from a varied crew of “guitar-toting tribesfolk and honored goyim,” who have included Patti Rothberg, Andy Shernoff of the seminal punk band the Dictators, Howie Statland of Thin Lizard Dawn, Julia Greenberg, Roger Greenawalt of the famed 80’s Boston band The Dark, Philip Foxman, Noel Cohen, Rachael Sage, and Jared Nissim.

 

At Passim, the boys will be joined by Cynthia Kaplan, Scott Harris, Somerville resident Joe Kowan and Jedediah Parish.

 

Actress, author, screenwriter, occasional songwriter and new monther ("I'm still waiting for the long-promised TV special "Where's The Afikomen, Charlie Brown?") Kaplan penned "Why I'm Like This: True Stories," published in July by William Morrow. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Self, Rosie, the journals McSweeney's and Tin House, and the humor anthologies "More Mirth of a Nation" and "101 Damnations." She co-wrote the 2002 film "Pipe Dream," starring Mary-Louise Parker and Martin Donovan.

 

Harris, a New York resident, was born and raised in New Orleans, where he attended an Orthodox synagogue for ten years. “I ultimately landed, however, at a Reform one, Touro Synagogue (on St. Charles Ave., named after Judah Touro, son of the famous father),” he said. “Reform Judaism is the reason I learned to play guitar, and found my love of music,” he added.

 

"Although the name Jedediah, meaning 'Beloved of Jehovah', comes straight from the Book of Samuel,” said Parish, “my Pilgrim forebears quite possibly never saw a Jew until the 1960s.” However, he cites “a great appreciation and knowledge of this fascinating culture, having even assimilated a bit toward Chinese food and a movie on Christmas and dating Jewish women.” He sings and plays with his combo Jedediah Parish and the Mother Tongues, who will play at the Linwood Grille in Boston on March 15. He also plays with the hard pop group The Gravel Pit.

 

Tickets are $10 for the March 16 show at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. For information, please call 617-492-7679 or visit http://www.clubpassim.org or http://www.bigsean.com/likejew.html.