The Passover Project: A Musical Seder benefitting the STL Jewish Light

In early 2024, St. Louis Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Ellen Futterman enlisted Brothers Lazaroff and Rabbi James Stone Goodman to help produce a music-filled alternative seder. Rooted in a few examples from other creative communities around the country, Ellen wanted to create an experiential Passover seder that both brought the community together and highlighted some of St. Louis' abundant talent. Attendees will enjoy a family-friendly, but decidedly grown-up seder, with music, poetry, grooves, and some hidden mystical teachings connected throughout. James Stone Goodman is a writer and a musician, playing guitar, oud, percussion and other instruments of the Middle East. He has recorded music, story, and poetry in a number of collaborative formats. He performs with several musical groups, all of which feature original materials based on traditional themes, integrating literary forms in a performance art musical form. In his day job, he serves as a rabbi in St. Louis. His special field of expertise is the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. He also works in addictions, incarceration, and mental health. Led by brothers David and Jeff Lazaroff, Brothers Lazaroff is at once a St. Louis-based songwriting/producing team, and six to 15-piece ensemble. They have made a habit of effortlessly blending genres around their rooted songwriting, while also developing multiple long-running events that bring music and community together. Brothers Lazaroff has released over a dozen original albums, EPs, and live recordings. These songs and events have become the foundation for an ever-growing family of multidisciplinary artists. St. Louis native Peter Martin is a Grammy-award winning jazz pianist, educator, and founder of Open Studio, an online jazz education platform that was featured in the New York Times. Peter has performed and recorded on six continents with Wynton Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter, Christian McBride, and Joshua Redman as well as his own ensembles. Peter co-hosts the acclaimed music podcast You'll Hear It with Adam Maness. Rob Koritz was classically trained at the University of Arizona but earned a degree in Jazz Studies at Webster University in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Since 1999, Rob has been the drummer for the band Dark Star Orchestra, helping to keep the music and live concert experience of the Grateful Dead alive for the past 25 years. Rob also started a “team building through drumming” workshop called the "Percussion Discussion," which he still does in his off time, and in 2021, launched “The Music Plays The Band” podcast, which features Rob talking to the some of the biggest stars in the Jamband world and beyond, focusing on how the Grateful Dead influenced their lives and their music. Anita Jackson is a native of St. Louis, Missouri who has travelled extensively nationally and internationally in theater productions, concerts, and workshops. She has recorded and performed as a background vocalist for several artists in the music industry, including Bette Midler on her acclaimed song "From a Distance," which won the Grammy award for Song of the Year in 1991; and as a background vocalist for Patti Austin, Mariah Carey, and many more. Anita has been a featured player with the St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre as well. She will soon release her first solo jazz album, "Life is Beautiful", in honor of dear family and friends lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joey Ferber is a guitarist and singer-songwriter, whose musical styles merge like the meeting of rivers just north of his home city- St. Louis. Born into a musical family, Ferber leaned on music from an early age, as a listener and inevitable, as a player. Ferber’s current tenure with the future funk/avant garde ensemble, Blvck Spvde & the Cosmos came to a point of fruition with their their debut single release, “DOOM,” that coincided with a set at St. Louis’ premier festival: Music at the Intersection. The recording and video session for “DOOM” was produced by St. Louis based roots band Brothers Lazaroff, who over the course of 2023 enlisted Ferber’s services as an instrumentalist and at times as a co-producer for several projects the two partnered on. Michael Tzinberg is a musician as well as an early childhood/Jewish educator from St. Louis, Missouri. Michael plays old time, blues, early country and other traditional music. Originally a drummer, Michael plays fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Michael is one half of the old time/science fiction band: Wild Mountain Thyme Machine. Some non-kosher seder dishes fashioned by City Winery’s culinary team will be featured for purchase as well as the traditional four glasses of wine as a special wine flight (or glasses can be purchased separately).