This CD, Hershel Sounds, presents the music I composed for Gas & Electric Arts' theatrical adaptation of Eric Kimmel's book, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. The story takes place in a fictional shtetl, located somewhere in what is today Ukraine, in which the inhabitants are forbidden from celebrating Hanukkah by a berserk gaggle of goblins. Enter the legendary and fabled Hershel of Ostropol, who decides to face the goblins in exchange for food and shelter. Accompanied by an orphan girl (Rachael), he waits in the synagogue each night, ready to light the candles. The goblins come one by one, but Hershel outwits them all, eventually lighting all 8 candles of the menorah, banishing the goblins and liberating the town. This CD contains themes of the principal characters, the village music (played by the village band), and musical dramatization of Hershel's showdowns with the goblins. The music draws on klezmer music, rhythms and modes from Eastern Europe, and even the rural folkloric music of the Cariri Region of Paraíba, Brasil where I was living when I composed much of the music. Personel: Gregg Mervine - drumset/percussion, marimba (1, 11, 13) guitar (1, 15, 17), banjo (2, 5, 8, 16), cavaco (8, 9, 17), toy piano (1, 6, 9), pifano (9), vox (2, 11). Larry Goldfinger - clarinet, bass clarinet (11), toy piano (3). Chris Coyle - upright bass Patrick Farrell - accordion (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 14) Shinjoo Cho - accordion (6, 9, 12, 13), Wurlitzer piano (12) Katt Flagg - accordion (4, 7, 10) Brendan Cooney - organ (15) Petia Zamfirova, Rosie Langabeer, Larry Goldfinger, Adam Hershberger, and Chris Coyle - shtetl choir (2, 11) Recorded at Buckeye Recording by Peter Richan (www.buckeyerecording.com). Additional tracking done at Goldfinger Platinum Factory (Philly), the Mervine family basement (Langhorne, PA), Farrell's Hi-Fi-Fonics (Brooklyn), Ohly's Sound Ark (W. Philly) and Apopolis Som (Monteiro, PB - Brasil). Produced and mixed by Gregg Mervine Mastered by Bill Moriarty - http://www.moriartyrecording.com/ Album design by David Brown Album art by ........... Thanks to Gas & Electric Arts' Lisa Jo Epstein and David Brown, all of the musicians and audio technicians involved, West Philadelphia Orchestra, Klez Dispensers, Jack Ohly, Rivers Douglas Feitosa, Elaine Watts (for showing me how to play a bulgar), my teachers Donna Magrann, Mike Lipton, Rob Brosch, and Tony DiNicola, and to ACF Philadelphia for their financial support. Special thanks to Ariadne, meu amor, and my parents, Pat and Lance. This project is supported [in part] by the American Composers Forum, Philadelphia Chapter.”