Mama Doni
Our Next Show Is...
08//01/10 - Camp Louemma (Sussex, NJ) 2:00pm
Upcoming Shows...
- 08/05/10 - JCC of Northern Virginia (Fairfax, VA) 6:00pm
- 08/06/10 - Camp JCC at JCC of Greater Washington (Rockville, MD) 1:00pm
- 08/29/10 - Congregation Beth Israel (Houston, Texas) 10:15am
- 09/05/10 - Jewish Federation Sarasota-Manatee (Sarasota, Florida) 4:00pm
- 09/19/10 - Congregation Adath Israel (Middletown, CT) 2:00pm
- 09/26/10 - Congregation Beth Or (Maple Glen, PA) 1:30pm
- 10/03/10 - Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael (Springfield, NJ ) 1:00pm
- 10/24/10 - Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York, NY ) 2:30pm
- 11/21/10 - JCC of Worcester (Worcester, MA) 3:00pm
- 11/28/10 - Bergen Performing Arts Center (Englewood, NJ) 1:00pm and 4:00pm
- 12/02/10 - JCC of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) 6:30pm
- 12/05/10 - Temple Israel (West Bloomfield, MI) 1:00pm
- 12/12/10 - United Jewish Communities of Metrowest New Jersey SUPER SUNDAY - UJC Metrowest (Whippany, NJ) 3:00pm
- 12/29/10 - Suffolk YJCC (Commack, NY) 11:00am
- 05/22/11 - JCC of Greater New Haven (Woodbridge, CT) 4:00pm
- 12/11/11 - JCC Rockland (West Nyack, NY) 4:00pm
Past Shows...
Jewish Community Centers & Y’s:
- Mid-Island YJCC - Plainview, NY
- Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - JCC Swim and Tennis Club - West Hartford, CT
- JCC Manhattan - New York, NY
- JCC on The Hudson - Tarrytown, NY
- JCC Commack - Commack, NY
- Stamford JCC - Stamford, CT
- Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County - Newburgh, NY
- YMHA - Wayne, NJ
- JCC Albany - Albany, NY
- JCC Houston - Houston, TX
- JCC of Middlesex County - Edison, NJ
- Bergen County YJCC - Washington Township, NJ
- Katz JCC - Cherry Hill, NJ
- Rosenthal JCC - Camp Discovery - Croton-on-Hudson, NY
- Suffolk Y and JCC - Commack, NY
- Milton & Betty Katz JCC - Margate NJ
- Worcester JCC - Worcester, MA
- JCC of Bensonhurst - Brooklyn, NY
- JCC MetroWest - West Orange, NJ
- JCC of Kansas City - Kansas City, KA
- Mayerson JCC - Shalom Family - Cincinatti, OH
- JCC of Staten Island - Staten Island, NY
- JCC of Allentown - Allentown, PA
- JCC Wyoming Valley - Wilkes-Barre, PA
Museums, Festivals & Fairs
- The International Jewish Music Festival 2008 - Amsterdam, Holland
- REJOICE 2008– The South Brunswick Jewish Music festival - South Brunswick, NJ
- JCC Toledo - Hanukkah Palooza & Latkefest - Toledo, OH
- YM-YWHA of North Jersey’s Children’s Theater Series - Wayne, NJ
- The Jewish Museum of New York - New York, NY
- REJOICE 2009– The South Brunswick Jewish Music Festival, South Brunswick, NJ
- The International Jewish Music Festival 2009 - Amsterdam, Holland
- JCC Houston - Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair - Houston, TX
- The Museum of Jewish Heritage - New York, NY
- Bucks County Jewish Festival - Yardley, PA
Synagogue Programming – Preschools, Religious Schools (K-5), Youth Groups
- Marlboro Jewish Center - Marlboro, NJ
- Pine Brook Jewish Center Nursery School - Montville, NJ
- Congregation Oheb Shalom - South Orange, NJ
- Adath Shalom - Morris Plains, NJ
- Temple B’nai Abraham - Livingston, NJ
- Shomrei Emunah - Montclair, NJ
- Temple Emanu-El - Closter, NJ
- Maplewood Jewish Center - Maplewood, NJ
- Kol Ami - White Plains, NY
- Temple Sha'arey Shalom - Springfield, NJ
- B’nai Tikvah - North Brunswick, NJ
- Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel - South Orange, NJ
- Westchester Jewish Center - Mamaroneck, NY
- Temple Beth El - Rochester, NY
- Temple B'Nai Or - Morristown, NJ
- Temple Beth Rishon - The Andrew Friedland Preschool, Wyckoff, NJ
- Adat Shalom - Los Angeles, CA
- The Shirley & Paul Pintel Nursery School of Fair Lawn Jewish Center - Fair Lawn, NJ
- Woodlands Community Temple - White Plains, NY
- Congregation Tikvat Israel - Rockville, MD
- Kol Ami - White Plains, NY
- Congregation Agudath Israel - Caldwell, NJ
- Temple Sha’arey Shalom - Springfield, NJ
- B’nai Keshet - Montclair, NJ
- Shir Ami - Newton, PA
- Congregation B ’nai Israel - Millburn, NJ
- Kaplan Preschool – United Synagogue of Hoboken - Hoboken, NJ
Camps & Day Schools
- Friedberg JCC - Summer Camp - Wheatley Heights, NY
- JCC of Staten Island - Lillian Schwartz Day Camp - Staten Island, NY
- Hillcrest Jewish Center - Summer Camp Program - Flushing, NY
- Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - Camp Shalom - West Hartford, CT
- Central Queens YM-YWHA - Summer Camp Program - Wheatley Heights, NY
- Samuel Field Y - Summer Camp Program - Wheatley Heights, NY
- JCC Princeton Mercer Bucks - Abrams Day Camp - Lawrenceville, NJ
- JCC Bridgewater - Camp Ruach - Bridgewater, NJ
- Gesher Summer Camp - Livingston, NJ
- The Rosenthal JCC of Northern Westchester
- Camp Discovery - Croton-on-Hudson, NY - Solomon Schechter - Queens, NY
- Henry Kaufman Campgrounds - Wheatley Heights, NY
- Camp Louemma - Sussex, NJ
- Westchester Summer Day - Mamaroneck, NY
- Mid-Island Y-JCC - Oceanside, NY
- Friedberg JCC - Oceanside, NY
- The Rosenthal JCC of Northern Westchester - Camp Discovery - Croton-on-Hudson, NY
- Solomon Schechter School - West Orange, NJ
- Hebrew Academy of Morris County - Randolph, NJ
Benefits, Country Clubs & Senior Centers
- Benefit Concert for American Cancer Society - Relay For Life - Montville, NJ
- United Jewish Council of Greater Toledo - Sylvania, Ohio
- "Little Kids Rock" Concert - Montclair, NJ
- Parents Who Rock - Montclair, NJ
- Children's Winter Holiday Party - Orange Lawn Tennis Club - South Orange, NJ
- Help Haiti Heal Benefit Concert - NY, NY
- Miriam Apartments - Clifton, NJ
- Miriam Apartments II - Clifton, NJ
- Fox Hills Chaverim - Rockaway, NJ
MAMA DONI IN THE NEWS
Jersey singer makes hip music for Jewish kids!
by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Features Editor
June 19, 2008
The sweltering temperatures on Sunday didn't keep the young fans away. Although the heat played havoc with the sound system at the outdoor June 8 mini-concert in Montclair, the Mama Doni Band provided cool relief to new fans and old. (On this 90-plus degree day, it was appropriate that one of the tunes was titled "Shvitzin'.")
Lead singer Doni Zasloff Thomas moved to Montclair with her family from Manhattan three years ago, and her entry into the business was serendipitous: About a year and a half ago, the head of her children's preschool at Child's Way*Derech HaYeled in West Orange heard her reciting Shabbat blessings with them and asked her to be the school's music teacher.
Doni wasn't content just to recycle the same old stuff. She wanted to write her own songs, but had never done so before.
"I went on-line and looked up 'how to write a song' on the Internet, but that didn't go well. Nothing came."
A week later, "The Kipa Song" "just came out of the heavens," she said – beshert. "The next thing you know, I was writing every day, three songs, just absolutely going crazy. And I put the album together."
Her effort, I Love Herring (and Other Fish Shticks for Kids), was released in May and includes such ditties as "Jewperheroes," "Bubbie's Big Bluff," and "Oy Yoy Yodel." The band – which includes guitarist Adam Nelson (who also serves as the group's producer), bassist Alex Tyshkov, and drummer/percussionist Ken Walz – won the Simcha Prize at the 2008 International Jewish Music Festival, held May 9-12 in Amsterdam.
Doni admits her target audience is somewhat limited. She could have reached a wider audience merely by singing generic children's songs rather than tunes for Jewish kids.
"It's so important to me. I feel passionately about making Jewish culture hip and cool. Everything about being Jewish, I love so much, and I want to make it accessible for kids.
"I do these songs in my preschool class. The kids love it and the parents love it." Maybe that's because it reaches them on different, albeit still enjoyable, levels. The little ones love the energy that Mama Doni and company bring, while the parents and grandparents relate to it on a more thematic level.
"My demographic is Jews and people who dig crazy Jewish stuff."
© Copyright 2007-2008 – The New Jersey Jewish News – All Rights Reserved.
