Mama Doni and The Mama Doni Band Play Sutton Place Synagogue, 12/16

In a spirit of outrageous fun, Mama Doni and The Mama Doni Band will bring their inimitable brand of "funky music with a Jewish twist" to a family "Chanukah Fever" show at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 16 at Sutton Place Synagogue, 225 E. 51st St., New York, NY.

Doni Zasloff Thomas, a.k.a. Mama Doni,is the lead singer/songwriter of The Mama Doni Band, honored with a Parents' Choice Award for their CD Shabbat Shaboom and winner of the Simcha Award for "Inspiring Joy Through Music" in competition with more than 100 bands from 15 different countries at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam. The band celebrates Jewish culture with irrepressible zest in its interactive family rock concerts filled with catchy pop songs that break the mold of traditional Jewish music. Quirky, offbeat, and unpredictable, The Mama Doni Band offers up a contagious and unexpected blend of reggae, rock, disco, Latin, klezmer and "Jewgrass" – all woven together with a hip Jewish sensibility.

Mama Doni promises plenty of surprises throughout her Chanukah concert, including giveaways of chocolate gelt and Mama Doni CDs, courtesy of Streit's Matzo. Kids will boogie like a dreidel, air guitar with the band ("Latke Man" style), join in an applesauce vs. sour cream rock-along, and chime in on the eternal question of "Chanukah" or "Hanukah." Rocking out for Chanukah, Mama Doni & The Mama Doni Band will perform such latkelicious songs as "The Funky Gold Menorah," "La Vida Dreidel," and "I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah!)." The band will go all out with a wild bluegrass version of "Honey, This Ain't Money" (about Chanukah gelt), and, as a special treat, several new songs will be showcased, including the soon-to-be-famous "The Land of Sufganiyot" (a reggae song about jelly doughnuts). Hip young kids and their even hipper parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles should come prepared to get up and dance at these spirited Jewish rock concerts. Chanukah will never be the same!

New for 2012 is Mama Doni's book, co-written with Rachel Harkham, Get Cooking! A Jewish American Family Cookbook & Rockin' Mama Doni Celebration (Behrman House Publishing, $19.95). Much more than just a cookbook, Get Cooking! A Jewish American Family Cookbook & Rockin' Mama Doni Celebration is packed with holiday activities, jokes, and rockin' tunes on a 29-track Mama Doni CD that's included with the book. This celebration of Jewish American culture makes a connection to secular holidays, emphasizing the shared aspects of American and Jewish lives.

Also new in 2012 is Mama Doni's family CD, Emunah: Jewish Songs of Life, Love and Hope. This soulful album features adaptations of traditional Hebrew songs along with a collection of new Mama Doni songs that bring a fresh take to Jewish identity and spirituality.

Mama Doni's recordings are available nationwide, as CDs and digital downloads, from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, FYE.com, iTunes, and select Costco locations.

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