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Arts & Entertainment

'Jews Who Rock' Rocks West Bloomfield

The rock concert Saturday night at the Berman Center hosted by renowned critic Gary Graff offered an appreciated tribute to music legends.

David Lee Roth lights the menorah. Ditto for Adam Sandler.

But neither made the honor roll at Jews Who Rock, a Music Festival presentation held Saturday night at the new on the JCC's West Bloomfield campus.

Hosted by nationally-noted — and Detroit-based — music critic Gary Graff, the loose-limbed event paid tribute to Jewish heroes of pop music and culture.

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"There are so many," Graff joked. "Even Billy Joel is half-Jewish and Springsteen — well, that's a good Jewish sounding name."

Avoiding the obvious, Graff briefly recounted the stories of the Chess Brothers, Brian Epstein and Jac Holzman — producers and record company executives with fine ears, who helped give the world Chuck Berry, the Beatles and the Doors, among others. Then, Graff stepped back to let the music speak for itself.

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That part was handled in a lively 90-minute show by Detroit-based Jewish musicians Billy Brandt, Tino Gross and guitarist/DJ Mark Pasman, whose Motor City Blues Project has been a nearly 25-year Detroit radio staple.

Though the sparkling 600-seat theater was slightly less than filled, the performers didn't seem to mind.

"You came out tonight to see us and not Charlie Sheen, and we appreciate that," said Pasman, referring to the "Two and A Half Men" star's heavily-hyped show, which was being held simultaneously at the Fox Theater in downtown Detroit.

Rambling through blues and folk, as well as rock, the off-the-cuff  set carried the feel of old friends jamming together on a back porch. 

"It was very fun, very entertaining," said Amy Fertell of Huntington Woods.

Yet, while friends for years, the three rarely played together professionally, as recounted by Brandt in the accompanying video interview. Their one-off set was heavy with Bob Dylan songs. "How could we be here and not sing Dylan?" joked Brandt, who also slipped in a few songs from his bands, Grievous Angel and the Mission Band.

The set also featured a juicy Dylan story, courtesy of Howling Diablos member Gross who just completed a song with the folk rock maestro himself.

"It began when I was working with Sean Forbes," Gross said of the up-and-coming (and hearing impaired) Detroit rapper signed to Eminem's Shady Records label.

Forbes had the elements of a song called "Bob Dylan Is the First Rapper," mixing Dylan lyrics with a hip-hop beat. Gross added some touches of his own before contacting Dylan's people for permission to use Dylan's lyrics in the rap.

"It turned out (Dylan) was thrilled," Gross said. All three will eventually share writing credit on the song, which will be released to the public soon, Gross promised the audience.

Keeping with the evening's loose theme, songs by Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon helped round out the set.

The closer, however, was AC/DC's "It's a Long Way To the Top (If Ya Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" — no one's idea of Jewish music per se — but the audience didn't seem to mind. Unlike Sheen's show, no one appeared to have demanded their money back, anyway.

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