In a spirit of outrageous fun, The Mama Doni Band brings its special brand of “funky music with a Jewish twist” to an all-ages Chanukah show at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8 in the performance space at 100 Reade Street, NYC.  This concert is sponsored by the SoHo Center for Jewish Life.

Doni Zasloff Thomas, a.k.a. Mama Doni, is the lead singer/songwriter of The Mama Doni Band, winner of the Simcha Award for “Inspiring Joy Through Music” in competition with more than 100 bands from 15 different countries at the 2008 International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam.   The band celebrates Jewish culture with irrepressible zest in its high-energy, 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 and a zany sense of humor.

Mama Doni promises plenty of surprises throughout her band’s hip Chanukah concert, including giveaways of chocolate gelt, dreidels, CDs, and t-shirts, and opportunities for kids to 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!).”

As a special treat, there’ll also be a “sneak peek” at songs from Mama Doni’s next CD, Shabbat Shaboom, with reggae dancing to “Mazel Tov,” rocking out to a Latin dance beat in “Challah-Day!,” and some crazy “Jewgrass” dancing to a song all about family, “Mishpocha.”  The show will overflow with wild and wacky numbers, including such Mama Doni favorites as “Jewish Cowgirl” and “Shofar-Blowin’ Band.”  Hip young kids and their even hipper parents and grandparents should be ready to get up and dance at this spirited Jewish rock concert!

According to Carrie Stetler in The Star-Ledger, Doni Zasloff Thomas “is proud to have a schtick. And that schtick, she says, is to ‘Jewify’ all forms of music – from country to reggae to holiday songs.”  Kids’ media authority Amy Kraft, of Media Macaroni, enthused, “We were all laughing out loud … Listen as Mama Doni spreads around some challah-day spirit in her inimitable cross between Sheryl Crow and Tone Loc.”

Mama Doni, a resident of Montclair, New Jersey, hopes that her music will add some Jewish flavor to the lives of people everywhere.  She speaks with great passion about preserving the priceless Yiddish and Jewish spirit by imbuing it with a contemporary vibe that connects to life in our times .

WHAT: CHANUKAH FEVER! WITH MAMA DONI & THE MAMA DONI BAND
WHERE: 100 Reade Street, NYC
WHEN: Wednesday, December 8, 5:00 p.m.
TICKETS:         $15.  $10 for children 12 and younger.
INFO:                646-510-3109.  www.sohojewishlife.com