Get in the Adar groove with keyboardist Ari Baumann
That’s “Mishenichnas Adar,” hands down — the “Misheh misheh mishehnichnas Adar, marbim, marbim, marbim besimchah” version, the tune of which is actually an ode to the slaves’ cotton picking (“Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotton…”), but was somehow elevated.
Joey Newcomb, because he’s so real and sings from the heart and I think he’ll bring out simchas Purim in an amazing way. I’ve farbrenged with Joey and he just gives good vibes and is fun to be around. We had a great time doing some skits together in a series of commercials for shulpace.com.
On Purim I play in the house of Rabbi Avi Davidowitz (Rabbi D. of Oorah fame) who is the rosh yeshivah at TAB (Torah Academy of Brooklyn). Every year I marvel at the connection students and alumni have with Rabbi D. Young people of all types stream into the house. They may be far away from the yeshivah world, but every year they come back to their rebbi on Purim. Once, over 20 years ago, I played there on Purim together with Yossi Piamenta a”h — that stands out as a special memory with unforgettable warmth and flavor.
Going back over two decades, a couple of guys who liked to sing and I were going to go over to a friend who had a home studio — then a rarity — to record some Purim songs and comedy. After Shacharis that day I met a good friend who decided to come along and watch. He wasn’t intending to get on the mic at all, but suddenly he said, “Let me show you guys something I did in camp,” and he took a phone and got on the mic. What followed was the infamous “Chaim Mordechai Brecher” classic prank-call comedy. It was done totally off the cuff, no rehearsals, and those were all real calls!. We were laughing so hard that we had to run out of the room, and when you hear the caller coughing, he was really laughing too. That was the first volume, and it was probably the funniest week of my life.
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